As reported last week, the court case brought by President Obama’s re-election campaign against a promotional products company was dismissed on Monday, January 30. U.S. District Court Judge Susan B. Conlon of the Northern District of Illinois granted Obama for America’s motion to voluntarily dismiss its lawsuit without prejudice against Washington Promotions & Printing and its website, Demstore.com.
On January 23, the Obama for America campaign indicated they would file a notice of voluntary dismissal before the January 30 deadline. Upon receiving the notice, Judge Conlon granted the dismissal and canceled the hearing scheduled for last Monday.
The case had originally been filed in Chicago, hometown of the Obama for America campaign. The lawyer for Washington Promotions & Printing, which operates out of the greater D.C. area., requested the case be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, meaning the courts in Illinois had no judicial power over a business in another state. This motion led to the plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal this week.
A lawsuit dismissed without prejudice means there has been no final judgment on the case, and it may be re-filed. If the lawsuit had been dismissed with prejudice, for example due to a settlement, it would be considered finalized and the plaintiff would be unable to file another case on the same claim. Because the judge in Obama for America vs. Demstore dismissed the case without prejudice, the re-election campaign may file the claim again.
At this time, the president’s campaign has not said whether it would seek to re-file the claim in another district. PromoMarketing.com will have more on this story as it develops.
