Comment Text:
Dear Commissioners,
I am a full time student based in Des Moines, Iowa writing to express my concerns regarding the CFTC's proposed rule to ban political event prediction markets, which play a vital role in legal research and judicial forecasting. I would personally use these markets for their insights into the potential impacts of legal precedents and judicial appointments on future court rulings. My recent study on Supreme Court nomination predictions could have been far more convincing and using Kalshi's market data highlighted correlations between market sentiment and confirmation outcomes, underscoring the predictive value of these markets in legal analysis.
The proposed ban threatens to restrict access to essential data sources critical for advancing legal scholarship and informing judicial decision-making. Instead of prohibition, I urge the Commission to engage with legal scholars and stakeholders to develop regulatory frameworks that uphold academic freedom and support rigorous legal research.
Sincerely,
Dan
