Posted on 03/15/2008 4:07:11 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
CHICAGO (AP) - Craigslist should not be held liable for discriminatory housing ads posted on the popular Web site, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.
The decision by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a win for San Francisco-based Craigslist, an online network of classified ads and forums on which more than 30 million notices are posted every month, according to the ruling.
It is also a triumph for Internet sites that depend on user-generated content and for foes of legal boundaries for the Web, experts said.
The ruling means "the soapbox is not liable for what the speaker has said," said Kurt Opsahl, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based nonprofit organization that advocates for free speech online.
The lawsuit, filed by a consortium of Chicago attorneys in February 2006, accused Craigslist of violating federal housing laws by publishing more than 100 ads that excluded potential buyers or tenants on the basis of race, gender or religion.
Among the housing ads cited as objectionable by the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Inc. were ones that read "NO MINORITIES,""Requirements: Clean Godly Christian Male" and "Only Muslims apply."
Discriminatory ads would not be possible if Craigslist didn't offer the forum, according to Friday's ruling.
"That is not, however, a useful definition of cause," the court said. "One might as well say that people who save money 'cause' bank robbery, because if there were no banks there could be no bank robberies."
The decision upholds a November 2006 ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. In dismissing the case, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve ruled that Craigslist serves as an intermediary party, not a publisher. She also said the federal Communications Decency Act protects sites that allow users to post unedited messages and communicate freely in forums.
"We're pleased the Court agreed that online service providers like Craigslist should not be held liable as 'publishers' of content submitted by their users, and view this outcome as a win for the general public's ability to self-publish content (such as free classified ads) on the Internet," Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster said in a statement Friday.
The Chicago Lawyers' Committee said in a statement the group would not give up trying to root out housing providers who discriminate.
"While we are of course disappointed with the overall outcome of the case, we are gratified that the Court emphasized in the final paragraph of its decision that landlords and other housing providers who post discriminatory advertisements remain fully liable under the federal fair housing laws," the group said.
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On the Net:
Craigslist: http://www.craigslist.org
Electronic Frontier Foundation: http://www.eff.org
Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Inc.: http://www.clccrul.org
Good news indeed. THank you for the post.
Been thinking about renting my house after we move instead of selling in this market. But this is a reminder of the risks I take. Maybe I should just take the loss and move on.
I'm a little surprised that the court did not require Craigslist to have a policy that bans overt discriminatory language, with the "report abuse" feature being used to police it. I would suppose that the Craigslist people would respond that they don't have the staff for it.
By the way, has anybody figured out how Craigslist makes a dime?
As I recall, they charge for job ads and real estate ads in some markets. Their costs aren't very high, so it's enough.
I’ve always wondered why liberals haven’t complained about people discriminating in personal ads.
Ssshhhhh! Don't give them any ideas! LOL
Do a credit check of anyone wanting to lease your home. That will give you a pretty good idea about them. Make the leasee pay the costs.
This is the opposite of what is imposed on licensed real state people, and the print media in California.
Booth have been legally unable to do precisely what this court says can be done by craigslist on the web.
So if I want to sell or rent my own property, but not to muslims, just advertize it on the web.
The court said that Craigslist isn't responsible for the ad contents, but the person placing the ad would still be engaging in illegal discrimination. If you want to discriminate against Muslims, keep a few pigs on the premises.
Do credit checks identify sodomites these days?
No, of course not. Nor Muslims or pedophiles or any other warped type.
No, of course not. Nor Muslims or pedophiles or any other warped type.
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