Federal regulators convinced a judge to block Arizona from suing the predictions market everything.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona on Friday (April 10) granted a temporary injunction Restraining order Prevents Arizonans from pursuing criminal charges against contract markets governed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
The ruling came after the CFTC filed a complaint against the state of Arizona requesting an injunction barring the state from prosecuting it.
“The CFTC appreciates the Court’s careful consideration of these important legal issues and the Court’s decision to maintain the status quo,” CFTC Chairman Michael S. Selig He said in a press release.
“Arizona’s decision to weaponize state criminal law against businesses that comply with federal law sets a dangerous precedent, and today’s court order sends a clear message that intimidation is not an acceptable tactic to circumvent federal law.”
The ruling came days after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Complaints submitted v. Arizona, Connecticut, and Illinois, seeking declaratory rulings that federal law gives the CFTC “exclusive authority” to regulate event contracts and seeking permanent injunctions barring states from enforcing state prior laws against designated contract markets (DCMs).
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Arizona Attorney General Chris Mayes announced in March that she had filed criminal charges against Calci, alleging that the company violated state laws prohibiting the operation of unlicensed betting businesses and which prohibit betting on elections.
Calci may brand itself as a “prediction market,” but what it actually does is just that Running an illegal gambling operation “Betting on the Arizona election, both of which violate Arizona law,” Mayes said in a press release. “No company has the right to decide for itself which laws to follow.”
Meanwhile, Connecticut and Illinois issued cease and desist letters to DCMs to block the listing Sports-related event contracts within their states.
In another ruling last week, a federal appeals court issued Ruled for the first time The CFTC has exclusive jurisdiction over contracts for sports-related events.
The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit came in a case in which Calci sued New Jersey after obtaining a cease-and-desist letter saying contracts for sports-related events violated the state’s gambling laws.
Kalci had argued that decades of event could only be Regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).. A lower court sided with the company and issued a preliminary injunction, prompting New Jersey to appeal.
New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport She told Reuters that her office is evaluating its options following this latest ruling, arguing that the decision will allow “some companies to offer sports gambling in our states without following the exact gaming rules that everyone else follows.”
