Judge Tosses Suit Against Craigslist Over Housing Ads

By: A federal judge tossed out a lawsuit against the popular Web site Craigslist over allegedly discriminatory housing ads, but challenged the broad immunities claimed by the Internet company.

The lawsuit, filed by a consortium of Chicago attorneys in February, 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.

Steven Libowsky, an attorney for the lawyers committee, said the ads undermine the efforts of those who have fought against housing discrimination.

"It's taken this country almost four decades to stamp out these types of housing ads from newspapers. ... We fear that people are going to start thinking it's O.K. to publish ads like this again," Libowsky said.

In dismissing the case, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve ruled Tuesday that Craigslist serves as an intermediary party, not a publisher. She also said the federal Communications Decency Act protects sites like Craigslist that allow users to post unedited messages and communicate freely in forums.

The San Francisco-based company was satisfied with the result, said Craigslist attorney Eric D. Brandfonbrener.

"There aren't that many cases like this out there," he said.

Craigslist Chief Executive Jim Buckmaster called the ruling a "win for the general public's ability to self-publish content."

The housing ads cited as objectionable by the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Inc. included some that read "NO MINORITIES," "Non-Women of Color NEED NOT APPLY" and "Requirements: Clean Godly Christian Male."

Another ad read: "African Americans and Arabians tend to clash with me so that won't work out."

Laurie Wardell, a spokeswoman for the lawyer's committee, said an appeal of St. Eve's ruling is likely.

"We've had some complaints from people who saw these ads and felt discouraged about seeking housing," Wardell said.

Craigslist is a fast-growing online network of classified ads and forums. In a typical month, the Web site posts 10 million items of "user-supplied information," according to court documents.

St. Eve said "near-unanimous case law" shields sites like Craigslist from liability for third-party content. But that case law has been applied too broadly, she said.

"Congress did not intend to grant a vast, limitless immunity," St. Eve wrote.

Melissa Klipp, a Florham Park, N.J.-based Internet law attorney, said the ruling "makes perfect sense" because of the amount of information posted on Craigslist each day.

"It would be impossible for them to review what is published on their sites," Klipp said. "Craigslist could not function as a publisher."