Philly Suit Against Musk's Lottery Moved to Federal Court

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Facts

  • A Philadelphia judge on Thursday put on hold the city's district attorney's lawsuit attempting to shut down Elon Musk's $1M-a-day lottery. This comes after Musk's attorneys on Wednesday requested the case be moved to federal court.[1][2]
  • After a brief hearing — which the Tesla and SpaceX CEO did not attend despite being ordered to appear by a judge — a lawyer from the district attorney's office said the city will 'seek to have the matter remanded back to the state court' when the case is heard in federal court.[3]
  • Musk is a vocal supporter of former Pres. Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee. He has donated tens of millions of dollars to the Trump-supporting America PAC.[4]
  • Musk's lottery, which has had at least 12 winners since its inception, awards $1 million to a random participant from a swing state. To be eligible, individuals must be registered to vote and have signed Musk's petition in support of the First and Second Amendments of the Constitution.[4][5]
  • The case against Musk claims he's 'running an illegal lottery' and coaxing Philadelphians to give up their 'personal identifying information' in hopes of winning a prize. Musk has also been accused of violating consumer protection laws by creating confusion with 'deceptive, vague or misleading' claims.[6]

Sources: [1]Associated Press, [2]NBC, [3]CNBC, [4]CBS, [5]Newsweek and [6]BBC News.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by The Hill. Although Musk's petition has nothing to do with the presidential election — and, in fact, has everything to do with voicing support for the protection of Americans' constitutional rights — this case belongs in federal court. Musk is being accused of interfering with the election while nothing he's being accused of has to do with violating state consumer or nuisance law. It's a nice try by the Philly District Attorney, but he's out of his realm.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Guardian. Musk continues to consider himself above the law, first establishing this illegal lottery, and then flouting a judge's order and skipping his hearing in this case. He should be held in contempt of court for his absence. In addition to this civil case, there could be criminal charges in Musk's future for what is obviously a ploy to buy votes for Trump.

Predictions