Philly Suit Against Musk's Lottery Remanded to State Court

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Facts

  • On Friday, a US district judge rejected a request from Elon Musk's lawyers to move Philadelphia's lawsuit against the billionaire's $1M-a-day lottery from state to federal court.[1]
  • A Philadelphia judge put a hold on the suit earlier this week in response to Musk's attorneys' request to move the case to federal court.[2][3]
  • On Thursday, 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 would seek to have the matter remanded back to the state court.[4]
  • 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.[5]
  • Musk's lottery, which has had at least 13 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.[5][6][3]
  • The case against Musk claims he's 'running an illegal lottery' and coaxing Philadelphians to give up their 'personal identifying information' in the hopes of winning a prize. Musk has also been accused of violating consumer protection laws by creating confusion with 'deceptive, vague or misleading' claims.[7]

Sources: [1]The Hill, [2]Associated Press, [3]NBC, [4]CNBC, [5]CBS, [6]Newsweek and [7]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 accused of interfering with the election, but 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