Judges Put HISA National Injunction Efforts on Hold

Recent efforts by opponents of unified national regulation of horse racing to obtain nationwide preliminary injunctions in two federal district courts have been shelved by judges, clearing the way for national medication enforcement to commence later this month.

On March 10 the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas ordered a schedule for filing of legal arguments that extends beyond the anticipated rollout of HISA's Anti-Doping and Medication Control Program March 27. A federal district court in Louisiana set up a similar scheduling approach in a Feb. 15 order.

Thus, with two exceptions, enforcement under the ADMC is expected to begin as hoped by its proponents. The program sets uniform national medication and doping standards for the first time in the sport's history.

Both district courts are under the umbrella of the U. S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which declared HISA's enabling legislation facially unconstitutional late last year. A congressional response to the ruling enacted Dec. 30 vested more power in HISA's oversight agency, the Federal Trade Commission, in an effort to overcome the Fifth Circuit ruling. When asked to reconsider its ruling in light of the legislative change, the Fifth Circuit remanded, or sent back, the cases back to the district courts in Texas and Louisiana for further consideration.

On March 8, the National Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association and affiliated state HBPAs asked the district court in Texas to allow them to amend their complaint to continue their constitutional challenge to HISA—and for an immediate preliminary injunction to be applied nationally. HISA and the FTC asked for a more deliberative approach. On March 10, Judge James Wesley Hendrix did not rule on either motion but instead set up a briefing schedule to conclude April 12, more than two weeks after ADMC's rollout.

Hendrix has handled the case in Texas since it was filed in March 2021. He ruled that a previous line of Fifth Circuit cases, called precedent in legal circles, compelled him to find HISA constitutional. The HBPAs appealed the ruling, which was reversed when the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decided the underlying legislation was unconstitutional.

A related case in Louisiana, brought by the states of West Virginia, Louisiana, and others, is focused on HISA's alleged violations of the Administrative Procedures Act in implementing regulations. A preliminary injunction was issued by Judge Terry Doughty last year. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately allowed the injunction to remain in effect when it struck down HISA in its entirety, but the injunction's scope is limited to Louisiana and West Virginia, where state racing commissions continue to regulate horse racing.

After the remand to Doughty's court by the Fifth Circuit, plaintiffs in the case sought to add additional plaintiffs from multiple jurisdictions. They asked for a national preliminary injunction, which HISA and the FTC opposed. Instead, the court set up an orderly briefing schedule on both matters. That schedule could take the parties into May and possibly beyond.

A further hearing date has not been set in Louisiana. In Texas, Hendrix ruled his Texas court "will set a hearing date, if necessary, at a later time."

Meanwhile, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals considered the congressional amendment to HISA vesting more control in the FTC and ruled the statutory scheme constitutional March 3, denying a challenge brought by the state of Oklahoma and others. The decision affirmed the ruling of a federal district court in Lexington.