Craigslist Sues Attorney General Of South Carolina
Craigslist has announced that they are suing South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster "seeking declaratory relief and a restraining order with respect to criminal charges he has repeatedly threatened against craigslist and its executives." It's on, people.
Craigslist says that McMaster's threats to launch criminal investigations if the company refused to remove portions of the website that could be used to solicit prostitution and disseminate pornographic material are unconstitutional.
Craigslist says:
In addition to being unwarranted by the facts, legal experts agree that the charges threatened represent an unconstitutional prior restraint on free speech, and are clearly barred by federal law (sec 230 CDA).
Interestingly, if you read Mr McMaster's ultimatum carefully, you'll note that the only way to definitively comply with it is to take down the craigslist sites for South Carolina in their entirety. The open architecture of craigslist, quintessential to the value it provides for users, simply does not allow for the absolute prevention of solicitation or pornography, with respect to any of its categories and functions.
CL Sues SC AG For Declaratory Relief [Craigslist Blog]
Post a comment
Comments:
It's kind of like the Robocaller stories... The big boys only get involved when it affect them.
Perhaps Henry McMaster didn't receive the "Happy Ending" that was promised him in one of the ads?
Silly craigslist, your fancy "laws" don't apply in South Carolina. Sheriff Lott showed us that you can do whatever you want when there are cameras around.
I'm from SC and he does not represent all of us!
I sincerely hope the courts grant CL the restraining order, and firmly smackdown this overzealous AG. Guys like him enabled GWB's presidency, and will do nothing but destroy consumers' rights of choice.
@supertechman: I take it that "guys like him enabled GWB's presidency" to mean that McMaster is an American citizen who votes in the presidential election.
Hell yeah! Let's kick some ass, boys!
So. Carolina AG appears to back down in Craigslist case
@HiPwr: What he means is that "guys like him" have decided that they are qualified to make moral decisions for the entire country. They voted in a president who thought the same. Now this AG has decided that because the adult listings on Craigslist offend his personal morals, he has the right to shut it down for everyone.
@katyggls: He's making legal decisions that affect South Carolina. That's his job. This may be news to you, but prostitution is illegal in SC regardless of whether you or he thinks it's moral, or not.
Here is the docket entry. If someone has a PACER account, they may pay to retrieve the text of the action.
This just in, SCAG caught in bed with local newspapers.
@HiPwr:
I don't see him overly upset with Google. You can use Google to find paid sex and, last I checked, it has more exposure and brand awareness than Craigslist. Sounds like he's jumping on the bandwagon of the moment which means he's more concerned about politically showboating than really addressing the legal needs of the state of South Carolina.
Yea, I dunno WHAT on earth AG was thinking. Guess he didn't want my vote anyhow...
The best thing about this here is that it will set a *precedent* for all of the other states' AG's to observe and follow - remember, this is not about free speech - it's about one grandstanding AG being a douchebag on the national stage.
Remember when the SC Gov. said that he'd refuse TARP $$$? My sister, who's pretty high up in SC education system's hierarchy told me that was d-baggery on the Gov's part - to make himself look good for all of the other Country Club Republicans out there - while SC bleeds jobs like a patient badly in need of triage.
Meg, thanks for covering - I'll be winning debates with my SC-based window-licking brother-in-law - with your help!!
@Citizen Kang: CraigsList has been in the news with that asshole hooking up with prostitutes and robbing/killing them. He has to start somewhere, and he might as well go with the most public one. Not to mention that the man is an elected official and like all politicians/quasi-politicians, he loves publicity so go after the one most prominent in the public eye.
@Citizen Kang: Tacking onto my point and agreeing with you to some extent, yes, I believe political showboating is a factor here.
Welcome to America.
Know if Craigslist can manage to rid the state of Gov. Sanford... any ideas?
@Palmetto274: I don't know if they could, but they could certainly put up a want ad for someone to help them do this. And sell that Ikea desk, too!
I was looking at taking advantage of the lower prices caused by economic cancellations, and use some of the vacancies now available. But now, I've changed my mind and will not be going this summer to Myrtle Beach.
go back to Ohio? ([gobacktoohio.com]) GLADLY! where i can freely shop craigslist for a happy ending if i dam well please. good day sir.
I SAID GOOD DAY SIR!
By the same logic, shouldn't every street be shutdown to prevent the same activity?
@edrebber: You might as well shut down telephones as well since people can make phone calls to arrange these activities.
His name is McMaster? Maybe if he loses his job he can go work for McDonalds as their hiphop spokesperson.
@firestorm888:
Just to clarify, it was Stimulus money, and not TARP Money.
and Sanford is a Douchebag of epic proportions.
Now if he was really serious about limiting prostitution, he'd go after the johns. Put their photos on the front page, show them on the 6 o' clock news, etc. But that would probably mean a good portion of the South Carolina legislature would be doing perp walks. Bet that would cut the amount of prostitution a lot more than going after Craigslist or the hookers themselves.
@HiPwr: Prostitution is illegal, yes, but the AG's responsibilities as endowed by the state doesn't actually afford him this particular authority.
@theblackdog: don't forget about the internet and texting and newspapers and telepathy.
We should just be like "little house on the prairie".
@H3ion:
I dont understand that thinking. Why go after the person buying the product when usually you go after the person selling normally.
@BrienBear: Mostly because it works. Here both parties are technically guilty of some criminal activity but if you only arrest the prostitute, she'll pay her fine, or serve her 30 days, and be right back out earning a living. If you arrest or even just publicly disclose the customers, you dry up the "buyers" pretty quickly. It's one thing for a prostitute to have her picture on Smoking Gun. It's quite another thing for Elliot Spitzer to have his face on NBC News.
This logic views the prostitutes as victims. Criminalizing the purchase and arresting the buyer (as opposed to the prostitute) also prevents police corruption. A rather interesting study of prostitution was done in Chicago. One of the findings was that prostitutes are seldom arrested because they'll offer sexual favors in exchange for no arrest. If the act of selling one's body is no longer illegal, peace officers are unable to force prostitutes to perform such sexual favors as a means of avoiding arrest.
@HiPwr: He should be cleaning up his own state first if he really wants to set a good example. When this first came out I spent all of about 5 minutes locating ads for prostitutes on the websites of newspapers located inside SC. He's being one hell of a hypocrite if he's complaining about Craigslist while ignoring what's been going on in his own state since long before Craigslist ever even existed.
I hope Craig Newmark and associates cleans that Ag's plow. The South Carolin AG is resorting to a form of cyberbullying if you ask me (tonger in cheek), not to mention political grandstanding. I wonder if he even understands what the Streisand effect is?
@H3ion: You won't "dry up" the buyers so easily... (And really, have lawmakers gotten so cheap that they don't have mistresses anymore?)
It doesn't allow him to impose criminal sanctions through seating a grand jury? That would be news to most people.
I don't think any AG has ever depended on the votes of those who support crime so you're probably safe there.
Nice job, Henry. That's going to look GREAT on your "McMaster for Guvern'r" billboard.
Wanted: Competent state leadership.
@H3ion:
Since the only way to get access to the Johns through craigslist is to seize and read all the emails sent to the prostitutes, you're suggesting that the government should be able to scan the mail?
@LegoMan322: No good, people can still use their wagons to find hookers, they just look for the ones painted red ;-)
@firestorm888: That doesn't mean the "stimulus money" is any good. We have a nearby school district that has $3M in stimulus, but they can't really use it. There are so many strings attached to it as to how if can be spent (and the few programs effected are already fully funded), that you almost can't use the money without breaking the law or adding jobs (if only for a year) they don't need. It's a crock.
@buttons:
I would invite you to join me in Chicago; unfortunately, we're suffering from similar leadership problems in Illinois.
@H3ion: The only problem is some of the people making those decisions (eg. Spitzer) have too much to lose to do it.
@henwy: There is no expectation of privacy in e-mail sent from a company account. We are theoretically allowed (although we never have) to read all e-mail, incoming or outgoing, on the company's servers. Other than that, e-mail should have the same protections as letter mail. It can be opened with a warrant upon a good cause showing, but not otherwise. The government can find its johns and prostitutes the same way they do now.
FWIW, some church group in DC started videotaping the cars stopping for prostitutes at some DC location. They were looking for license plates which were reported to be primarily from out of DC. I don't know what happened with this but it did cause some ruckus when it happened. The johns were all upset that their "business" transactions were being monitored and the prostitutes felt that the presence of cameras (this was on a public street) had a chilling effect on their revenues. Might of even caused some of them to need a bailout.
Go Craigslist!