Plaintiff Warns Court Against Accepting NRA PAC’s TCPA Arguments

The National Rifle Association’s political action committee motion to dismiss plaintiff Patricia Crawford’s Telephone Consumer Protection Act complaint asks the court to “ignore the plain language that Congress used" in the TCPA that bars all unwanted text messages that include a prerecorded or artificial voice, said Crawford’s opposition Tuesday (docket 2:23-cv-00903) in U.S. District Court for Arizona in Phoenix. Crawford alleges the PAC embarked on an unsolicited text message campaign, causing her and class members injuries, including invasion of their privacy, aggravation, annoyance, intrusion on seclusion, trespass, and conversion (see 2309120042). The motion to dismiss also asks the court to ignore “clear and controlling” U.S. Supreme Court and 9th Circuit authority, which says text messages are calls under the TCPA, and a text message that leaves prerecorded audio on a person’s phone, like the call alleged in Crawford’s complaint, violates the TCPA, it said. The NRA is leading the court into “reversible error” if the court heeds those arguments, it said.