The Bloodhorse reported yesterday that Racing Commissioners International (“RCI”) has formed a committee for regulatory attorneys. The article quotes RCI chairman Dan Hartman as saying:
“This committee will provide a forum where racing regulatory legal issues can be discussed among the various attorneys who support the work of the commissions,” Hartman said in a release. “In the coming months we anticipate this committee will assist in creating a library of racing regulatory case decisions which would be available to commission legal staff.”
I think this is an important step in the uniform enforcement of state rules and regulations, and not just because I have a keen interest in the regulatory law governing horse racing. Hopefully this committee will lead not only to consistent enforcement of penalties, but also to a greater understanding of the principles of administrative law (and due process rights) that underlie the appeals process and other aspects of racing regulation.
A committee to inform the commission? Delightful. Nothing like regulation to start tying useless knots.
Actually, the committee is for the benefit of the regulatory attorneys, not the RCI, and will form a central repository of case law and information, so that the attorneys can better represent racing commissions in legal challenges to drug penalties, license suspensions, etc. Of course, this resource can also lead to regulations that will survive legal challenges better. In other words, the point of this committee is to untie the knots, not create more.
very informative blog