Chicago Lawyers' Committee For Civil Rights Under Law

Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

The Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc. is a consortium of Chicago Law firms that provides legal services in civil rights cases, with a focus on four major projects: the Employment Opportunity Project, the Law Project , the Fair Housing Project, and the Hate Crimes Project...

 v. Craigslist

Craigslist

Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities featuring free online classified advertisements, with sections devoted to jobs, housing, personals, for sale, services, community, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums....

is a 2008 Seventh Circuit decision affirming a lower court ruling that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 is a landmark piece of Internet legislation in the United States, codified at...

 (CDA) provides immunity to Internet service providers that "publish" classified ads that violate the Fair Housing Act (FHA).

Background

Craigslist maintains a posting service that allows its customers to advertise rental properties. Some customer posted advertisements have included clauses like "NO MINORITIES" and "Requirements: Clean Godly Christian Male", both of which violate the provisions of the Fair Housing Act (FHA). While Craigslist has pulled such advertisements (and has a policy requiring customers who post classified ads to adhere to the FHA), Craigslist does not prescreen advertisements prior to publication on their site, and , refuses to do so. Instead, Craigslist depends on users to report abusive advertisements, which are then examined and removed if found to be inappropriate. In 2006, Chicago Lawyers' Committee For Civil Rights Under Law sued Craigslist for maintaining the service in violation of the FHA.

Prior to trial, Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster

Jim Buckmaster

Jim Buckmaster , a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, is an American computer programmer who has been the CEO of Craigslist since 2000....

 publicly asserted that, "It is our understanding that the law is very clear to the effect that sites like Craigslist cannot be held legally liable for the content of postings submitted by end users." A lawyer for the Chicago housing group, Stephen Libowsky, disagreed with that assessment, stating that the goals of the lawsuit are to ensure that "...Internet places like Craigslist treated no differently than newspapers and other media who have traditionally been posting real estate advertisements. All of the gains are going to get lost if the same rules don't apply."

The District Court Ruling

In November 2006, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois is the trial-level court with jurisdiction over the northern counties of Illinois....

 held that Section 230 of the CDA provided a safe harbor for Internet service providers that "publish" classified ads

Classified advertising

Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals which may be sold or distributed free of charge...

 that violate the FHA, which (among other things) prohibits discriminatory advertisements for housing. The plaintiffs appealed the decision to the Seventh Circuit.

7th Circuit Ruling

The appeal was argued on February 15, 2008 before the Seventh Circuit. Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook issued an opinion on March 14, 2008 affirming the decision by the district court. The court noted the burden and ineffectiveness of imposing a duty on Craigslist to eliminate such postings: "[I]f postings had to be reviewed before being put online, long delay could make the service much less useful, and if the vetting came only after the material was online the buyers and sellers might already have made their deals. Every month more than 30 million notices are posted to the Craigslist system...fewer than 30 people...operate the system[.]" Additionally, the court stated "[u]sing the remarkably candid postings on Craigslist, the [plaintiffs] can identify many targets to investigate...and can collect damages from any landlord or owner who engages in discrimination[; but,] cannot sue the messenger just because the message reveals a third party's plan to engage in unlawful discrimination."