Ramaswamy Committee’s Motion Is Granted to Transfer TCPA Case to Different Judge
U.S. District Judge Steven Logan for Arizona in Phoenix granted Telephone Consumer Protection Act defendant Vivek 2024's Oct. 10 motion to transfer its case to him for consolidation with another case, Howard v. Republican National Committee (docket 2:23-cv-00993), the judge…
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already was presiding over (see 2310110029), said the judge's signed order Thursday (docket 2:23-cv-01958). Vivik 2024 is Republican Vivek Ramaswamy's presidential campaign committee. Phillip Woods, the plaintiff in Woods v. Vivek 2024, didn’t oppose the motion. The Woods case “calls for substantially the same question of law” as Howard, said Logan’s order. That question is whether a prerecorded video, sent via text message, is actionable as a “prerecorded voice” under the TCPA’s Section 227(b), it said. “Both cases involve plaintiffs who received unwanted text messages” that included videos with prerecorded audio clips, it said. Whether those messages are actionable under the TCPA “is a matter of law that will be dispositive in determining whether the respective plaintiffs have successfully stated a claim” under Section 227(b), it said. The plaintiff in Woods also has retained the same counsel as the plaintiff’s counsel in Howard, “and many of the same arguments have been made during briefing,” said Logan’s order. Transferring the case “will also eliminate substantial duplication of labor” between Logan’s court and the transferring court, it said. “Transfer is appropriate here,” it said.