Craigslist fires back, sues South Carolina attorney general

Computerworld - Turning the legal tables, Craigslist Inc. this morning filed a lawsuit against the attorney general of South Carolina for threatening to file criminal charges against the online classified advertising service.

Craigslist, which is known for selling everything from toasters to escort services, said today that it had filed a lawsuit in federal court in South Carolina against Attorney General Henry McMaster. The company is seeking a restraining order and declaratory relief, which is a court's judgment on a party's rights without awarding damages or ordering anything to be done.

"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," said Craigslist in a blog post. "Mr. McMaster's repeated threats of criminal prosecution should we refuse to shut down Craigslist for South Carolina have left us little choice but to seek declaratory relief before the court."

McMaster shot back this morning by calling the lawsuit good news for the state.

"It shows that Craigslist is taking the matter seriously for the first time," said the attorney general in a statement e-mailed to Computerworld. "More importantly, overnight they have removed the Erotic Services section from their Web site, as we asked them to do. And they are now taking responsibility for the content of their future advertisements. If they keep their word, this is a victory for law enforcement and for the people of South Carolina. Unfortunately, we had to inform them of possible state criminal violations concerning their past practices to produce a serious response."

The lawsuit is the latest action in a brouhaha that has engulfed Craigslist over the past several weeks.

Earlier this week, McMaster said efforts by Craigslist to eliminate racy ads aren't enough to halt his criminal investigation, a statement that prompted Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster to demand an apology.

"The Craigslist South Carolina site continues to display advertisements for prostitution and graphic pornographic material," McMaster wrote on the state's Web site on Monday. "This content was not removed as we requested. We have no alternative but to move forward with criminal investigation and potential prosecution."

McMaster's complaint came a week after Craigslist bowed to mounting pressure from the law enforcement community and announced that it would remove the Erotic Services category from its classified advertising Web site within seven days. That move prompted Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who had been vocal in his criticism of Craigslist -- once going so far as to call it an "online brothel" -- to applaud the company's decision to remove the category.