WASHINGTON, Jan. 18, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A three-judge claims panel of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has denied the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) motion to dismiss the appeal in a case filed by more than a dozen Plaintiffs, including PredictIt merchants, educators, and marketers Aristotle.

The court’s decision ensures the plaintiffs will receive a hearing in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, the jurisdiction in which the lawsuit was filed, now scheduled for February 8, 2023.

“Aristotle believes that the CFTC’s August withdrawal of PredictIt’s cease and desist letter has already hurt traders and threatens to do even more harm. We are pleased that the Fifth Circuit is agreeing that plaintiffs deserve their day in court as quickly as possible,” said David Mason, Aristotle’s general counsel and former chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

After several months of inaction in a lower court, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recognizes the importance of the issues at hand and the damage caused by further delays.

In plaintiff’s response to the fifth circuit dated January 12, plaintiffs had stated:

“Unelected bureaucrats hold great power over American citizens and businesses and are protected by sovereign immunity from harm even when they behave arbitrarily. What makes this agreement remotely consistent with fairness and democracy is that Congress has empowered the courts to review the momentous decisions of the authorities and stop them before they do too much irreparable harm to the governed.

“This court should reject the CFTC’s attempt to break that balance and evade this critical control of its powers. The court should issue an injunction so that the substantive legal questions presented in the case are not academic when asked, as the agency has already done the worst for the citizens it governs.”

Aristoteles is the contract service provider for the PredictIt Market, which operates under…