Marianna Trump Barry dies at 86, federal judge wants to block sports betting expansion
Maryanne Trump Barry, the sister of former President Donald Trump, has died at the age of 86.
Trump Barry is an attorney who began her career as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey in 1973 after earning a J.D. from Hofstra University. She received her BA from Mount Holyoke College, a private liberal arts college for women in Massachusetts, and her MFA from Columbia University in New York City.
In September 1984, two years after she married New Jersey attorney John Joseph Barry, President Ronald Reagan Trump nominated Barry to be a U.S. District Court judge in New Jersey. She was confirmed by the Senate the next month.
In a 2015 exposé of Barry’s career, The New York Times Trump summarized Barry as a federal judge with “a reputation on the bench as a tough judge who commanded the courtroom well.”
In June 1999, Trump Barry was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In September this year, she was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
She would spend the remainder of her career in Philadelphia, with the Third District operating under the James A. Byrne Courthouse. This is where the careers of Trump-Barry and her brother intersect.
Trump Barry, whose brother later became the 45th President of the United States, made much of his wealth in the New York real estate market. He also made millions in Atlantic City, where he developed, opened and operated several casinos, including the Trump Taj Mahal, now the Hard Rock Casino.
During his presidency, Trump said he supported allowing states to pass their own sports betting laws. But his oldest sister said federal law doesn't allow it.
Sports Betting Opponent
Since 2018, New Jersey has driven a significant expansion of legal sports betting across the United States.
In 2011, Garden State voters overwhelmingly approved a state constitutional amendment allowing sports betting in a statewide referendum. New Jersey lawmakers then passed a law, the Sports Betting Act of 2012, even though the federal government had a law on the books prohibiting single-game sports betting anywhere except Nevada.
Nevada was excluded because the state was already the home of this type of sports betting when it passed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in 1992. At the time, parlay betting was legal in Delaware, Oregon and Montana, and PASPA contained similar exemptions.
The NCAA and the four major leagues (NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL) successfully blocked New Jersey from allowing sports betting through the federal court system. The state appealed the case to the Third Circuit.
In August 2015, Trump Barry and Marjorie Rendell ruled in a three-judge majority opinion that PASPA prevented New Jersey from allowing sports betting in their state. Rendell's husband, Ed Rendell, advocated for the expansion of casino gambling while serving as Pennsylvania governor from 2003 to 2011.
Third Circuit affirms Trump-Barry decision
New Jersey appealed the Trump-Barry and Rendell decisions to the Third Circuit in an en banc hearing, and surprisingly, the court agreed to review the case.
"It's extremely rare," said Daniel Wallach, a gambling attorney at the time."The legal equivalent of winning the lottery."
The state did not prevail when the Court of Appeal panel reviewed the case. The court ruled 9-3 in favor of the NCAA and the league. Since Trump-Barry was involved in the original decision, she was barred from the full panel review.
New Jersey hit the jackpot again in 2017 after its appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was granted. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in May 2018 that PASPA violated an anti-command interpretation of the U.S. Constitution and struck down the long-standing law.
Since the landmark ruling, 38 states and Washington, D.C., have legalized sports betting. Trump Barry retired in February 2019 while her tax returns were under investigation.
Read also:
- Football 101: What is relegation in football?
- Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson to undergo season-ending surgery
- Court cancels lease transfer for New York Sands casino plan, Nassau Coliseum
- Online Hollywood Casino Platform Is Coming to Discontinuance
Source: www.casino.org
