(Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court allowed on Monday a thoroughbred racing body to continue regulating horse tracks in the United States while litigation brought by the state of Texas and other plaintiffs challenging its power to enforce its rules plays out.
The justices granted the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority’s request to put on hold a lower court’s ruling that found that its enforcement powers violated a legal principle stating that Congress cannot grant governmental power to private groups. The private self-regulatory body headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky was empowered by legislation passed by Congress in 2020.
The case has attracted attention for its potential to affect similar entities used to police broker-dealers and auditors of publicly traded U.S. companies.
(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware; Editing by Will Dunham)