New Jersey seeks Supreme Court ruling on prediction market jurisdiction

New Jersey files Supreme Court petition to resolve prediction market jurisdiction

New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport filed a petition for a writ of certiorari with the US Supreme Court on Wednesday, asking the nine justices to settle whether Kalshi's sports event contracts are federally regulated swaps under the Commodity Exchange Act or wagers subject to state gambling law.

The 47-page filing challenges a 2-1 Third Circuit ruling from April that found the CFTC's jurisdiction preempted New Jersey's gaming statutes. It arrived less than a week after the Ninth Circuit reached the opposite conclusion in the Nevada case, ruling 3-0 that Kalshi's contracts fall outside the CEA's swap definition and remain subject to state regulation.

Davenport's petition names civil enforcement actions in at least 20 states and frames the central question as whether the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act federalized the sports betting industry without Congress saying so explicitly. The filing also flags consequences for tribal gaming operators and state-licensed sportsbooks that have long operated under state authority.

Kalshi said it disagrees with the petition. The CFTC did not respond to a request for comment.