Federal Judiciary

Seventh Circuit Refuses to Hold Craigslist Liable for Housing Discrimination

By Robert Loblaw

Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights v. Craigslist, 07-1101 (7^th Cir., March 14, 2008)

In a decision that will interest online content providers, the Seventh Circuit has rejected efforts to hold Craigslist liable for discriminatory housing ads. The Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights sued Craigslist, claiming that numerous postings on its housing forum are discriminatory in violation of the Fair Housing Act. The challenged ads range from the overtly discriminatory (”NO MINORITIES!”) to the not-at-all discriminatory (”Catholic Church and beautiful Buddhist Temple within one block.”)

Craigslist argued that § 230 of the Communications Decency Act makes online publishers immune from liability for unlawful postings made by the public. The district court agreed and granted summary judgment for Craigslist. On appeal, the Seventh Circuit affirms. Although the Court rejects Craigslist?s argument that § 230 confers any kind of “immunity,” the Court agrees that Craigslist cannot be held liable for the discriminatory posts. The plaintiff also argued that Craigslist can be held liable for causing the discriminatory posting. Writing for the Court, Judge Easterbrook has this response:

Doubtless craigslist plays a causal role in the sense that no one could post a discriminatory ad if craigslist did not offer a forum. That is not, however, a useful definition of cause. One might as well say that people who save money “cause” bank robbery, because if there were no banks there could be no bank robberies. . . . If craigslist “causes” the discriminatory notices, then so do phone companies and courier services (and, for that matter, the firms that make the computers and software that owners use to post their notices online), yet no one could think that Microsoft and Dell are liable for “causing” discriminatory advertisements.

In conclusion, the Seventh urges the plaintiff to use Craigslist as a tool to find, investigate, and prosecute the real bad guys: the landlords who are actually engaging in discrimination.

Full post as published by Decision of the Day on March 14, 2008 (boomark / email).