A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled Friday to affirm a lower-court ruling denying a motion from horsemen in Arkansas and Iowa for a preliminary injunction to stop the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority and its anti-doping and medication control program in those states.

The Eighth Circuit ruling means that HISA and its ADMC remain in effect in Arkansas and Iowa. Friday’s ruling was first reported by Dick Downey of BloodHorse.

In the ruling, chief judge Steven Colloton ruled that there was a not a fair chance of the horsemen’s lawsuit succeeding on the merits of the case, meaning a preliminary injunction was not warranted.

Since the ruling only denies the motion for a preliminary injunction, it does not end the entire case, which was filed in April 2023. The case argues that HISA violates the non-delegation principle, the appointments clause, due process and article 3 of the constitution. When affirming the denial of a preliminart injunction, Colloton argued that the
rulemaking power and the enforcement power were constitutional, and that
HISA did not violate the public nondelegation doctrine or the
appointments clause.

There is a split in how different circuits are interpreting the constitutionality of HISA, making it likely that the question will come before the Supreme Court. In March 2023, a Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that a provision added in 2022 making HISA subordinate to the Federal Trade Commission made its enforcement provisions constitutional. However, a July 5, 2024 ruling by a Fifth Circuit panel ruled, also unanimously, that HISA’s enforcement provisions violated the constitution.

Even within the judges in the Eighth Circuit, there is a split in opinion over whether the enforcment provisions in HISA are permissible. The two majority judges, Colloton and Michael Melloy, supported the Sixth Circuit’s reasoning that HISA’s enforcement provisions are constitutional because the FTC can make rules to rein it in. However, dissenting judge Raymond Gruender agrees with the Fifth Circuit’s stance that the enforcement structure under HISA is unconstitutional because it improperly delegates government powers to an unsupervised private entity.

There is another case pending in the Tenth Circuit. A group of Oklahoma horsemen filed a suit July 24, arguing that HISA violated both the non-delegation doctrine and the administrative procedure act. This suit is still pending.