Sixth Circuit Chief Judge Torn on Horseracing Anti-Doping Law

The Sixth Circuit’s chief judge on Wednesday appeared torn on whether a June Supreme Court decision on private agency authority means a federal horseracing anti-doping law should stand.

For more than 50 minutes, Chief Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton pushed attorneys challenging and defending the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020 on the constitutionality of the law’s delegation of certain disciplinary and enforcement power to an outside group, known as Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority Inc., overseen by the Federal Trade Commission.

He particularly pressed lawyer Lochlan F. Shelfer—who represents the states of Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Louisiana, as well ...