This post will be one of two regarding the most recent Craiglist Killer case. The first is concerning prostitution, private businesses, Craigslist and legal issues. The second will address fear, blanket generalizations and alternate causality.

You have likely heard of the most recent Craigslist Killer case. In short, a guy is accused of contacting a few women who had listed their massage services on Craigslist, and having them meet him at nice hotels. Once there, he allegedly restrained the women and robbed them. The story is that one woman supposedly fought back, and he shot and killed her. I call this the most recent case, because apparently there have been several murders that have been associated with people meeting via Craiglist. Each person accused in these kind of murders are classified as a “Craigslist Killer.” (It’s an interesting read – check it out on Wikipedia.)

Unfortunately, rather than allowing justice to be sought by inviduals for a crime among individuals, the trend is instead to seek broader justice. In this example, in addition to the original murder case, a federal law suit (spearheaded by an Illinois sheriff) has been filed against the creator and CEO of Craiglist.com, because people use the site to advertise their adult services. Why should the site’s owner be held responsible for something that happened between adult individuals, just because they posted to his unmonitored advertising site to arrange their meeting? Why must there be additional suits, when the actual issue is one between just a few people?

I understand, and disagree strongly with the fact that prostitution is illegal in all but two states (Nevada and Rhode Island). And I also understand how some of the ads on Craiglist could be construed as prostitution ads. However, Craigslist does not monitor the ads that are placed on the website, as the ads are all placed by individuals. I will reserve my more extensive views on prostitution for a later post.

Fortunately, there is some legal precedence that should help Craigslist defend against the lawsuit. In 2006, Illinois attorneys filed a suit against Craigslist, citing a disregard for Federal housing laws. The case was eventually thrown out in 2008, when the Court “ruled that Craigslist.com serves as an intermediary party, not a publisher, and should not be held liable for discriminatory housing ads posted on the Web site.” (1). Hopefully the outcome of this new suit will be similar, rather than becoming a Craiglist Killer itself.

As an aside, it is interesting that both cases I’ve discussed above against Craigslist have originated by parties in Illinois. The first case was filed by the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. The newest one was filed by Sheriff Tom Dart. A review of Mr. Dart’s political history reveals terms as an Illinois state representative, and a run for Illinois’ state treasurer seat. He is also noted for halting foreclosure evictions in his county (Cook County, Illinois). (2) While I’ve been unable to find a direct link between Mr. Dart and the CLCCRUL, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out there is one. I would also be surprised if Mr. Dart isn’t planning a run for some new public office.

Additional interesting reading can be found here, in the official docket for Dart v. Craiglist.