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Craigslist will drop its 'erotic services' classified ads section in favor of another, more heavily-moderated adult category, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced Wednesday. At a morning press conference, Madigan said, "I think this is a fundamental change, a recognition by Craigslist that the erotic services section truly had become an Internet brothel, truly had become an illegal and dangerous place." The decision followed several months of negotiation with the attorney generals of three states, including Illinois, and a federal lawsuit filed March 5 by Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. Dart, holding his own presser, said, "Under a fair and objective analysis, it's clear that but for our lawsuit, and the pressure we brought as a result of that and the exposure that came as well, that that is what brought this to conclusion."
Dart's federal suit called the erotic section [SFW] of the services category on the popular online classified site a "public nuisance" and asked for a judgment in excess of $105,000, including the time of police officers charged with policing the website for prostitutes seeking clients and the aftermath of making at least 156 arrests. He also asked the court to prohibit the site from restarting the section by asking for an injunction.
But sex workers in Chicago, and their attorneys, had another opinion. They derided the law suit as ridiculous, and adult entertainment attorney JD Obenberger said he'd represent the website for free, if given the chance. "Dart's picking on prostitutes," said Obenberger at Chicago's Sexpo earlier this month. "He's using prostitution to advance his career." But Obenberger's complaint was based in a sounder legal theory: the first amendment.
He, with partner Reed Lee, said the case was a simple matter, resolved by one of journalism's landmark cases: Near v. Minnesota, which said publications cannot be censored, no matter how inflammatory. The disposition of the case remains in limbo, as Madigan's announcement mitigates Dart's argument.
Still, sex workers in Chicago said that closing the erotic services site would simply shift business somewhere else. One woman, “Sharon,” who started work as a prostitute on the popular web site, said that she’s already shifted elsewhere. “If you’re going to have to pay,” she said. “Why not go all the way and pay for the bigger sites.” Sharon, and other Chicago prostitutes, said that though the site might temporarily inconvenience their clients, the advertisements would move off-site, to other adult-oriented classified advertisement services. “Most of us have regulars,” she added. “The longer you’ve been working, the more likely it is that you don’t really need to advertise that much.”
Craigslist implemented a requirement in Nov. 2008, at the behest of more than 40 attorney generals, asking for credit card numbers and identification information to post in the erotic section; the $5 service fees were donated to charity. The site also agreed to better police itself: Dart argues that the site has not done so, despite the agreement. The erotic services section, his attorneys argued, draws more than 300 posts per day. In the complaint, Dart also said his department conducts stings through the website regularly, netting more than 200 people since 2007, charged with a variety of crimes, including: prostitution; juvenile pimping; and human trafficking.
In a March press release, Dart said vice control officers made postings on the site "pretending to be a 15-year-old girl. Those posting drew several responses, including one from a convicted sex offender. Despite promises from craigslist to better monitor its own website, the ads were not removed."
Craigslist could not immediately be reached for comment.
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Way to go Tom & Lisa, thanks to you and your diligence NOTHING has changed. Don't get me wrong, Craigslist is now "safe for the masses," but this has done nothing to solve anything close to the root problems -- but you did both get your names in the paper! For example, the existence and use of these services, abuse of the people providing these services, trafficking of minors to provide these services, etc. Then again, those aren't really the root cause either, the real cause for the existence of these services is the demand for them in the first place, and the problems of the service providers which drive them to this way of life in the first place (i.e. drugs, abuse, necessity, etc) which often times, don't fall under Tom or Lisa's jurisdiction.
Prohibition! This is where your taxes are going, people. Wouldn't you rather keep that money and spend it on a prostitute instead? I know I would.
It's not "attorney generals", it's "attorneys general". "General" is an adjective modifying the noun "attorney". They're not in the military.
Also, in paragraph 6, the colon in the second sentence should be a semi-colon, and the colon in the last sentence of the paragraph is unnecessary.
Actually, the correct English term would be general attorneys.
The term attorney general comes from the UK circa 1398 when it was first used by people of that title. The name stuck and the words have been reversed ever since. The terms attorney general, attorney generals, and attorneys general, are all technically incorrect.
If you consider attorney general the correct way given the fact it is now the more used term, you would have to give the same precedence to attorney generals over attorneys general.
There's no "correct" form of English. Like any language, it evolves through it's own use. Spelling, syntax, grammar, etc. are all subject to change.
That's not exactly correct. Yes, English evolves, but there is a "standard" English that is formed through such things as newspapers, dictionaries and the like, and which differs significantly from regional and sub-regional dialects or slang (not counting the differences between UK, American, Australia English, nor the varieties used in Asia). The power and influence of standard English is one reason we spell "night" instead of "nite," etc. The same thing holds true for most other languages, including Spanish and German. Indeed, students learning English in formal settings (that is, with a teacher) almost always learn "standard" English, though that version of standard English might lean more toward the UK or the USA, depending on where one lives.
"The terms attorney general, attorney generals, and attorneys general, are all technically incorrect."
Maybe, but in standard (American) English--used in such places as informational writing--the correct term is attorneys general.
matilda, I think you'll find this interesting (especially the link at the very bottom of the page)
http://michigantoday.umich.edu/2009/05/words.php?tr=y&auid=4859423
So anyway, about that internet prostitution...
Whenever I pays a lady to let me lays down on toppa her, she ain't never corrected me fer talking the way I like to speak.
Sex Professionals of Canada, condemns Craigslist's decision to ban its Erotic Services category. By capitulating to the recent bad publicity, the website is conceding that they played a part in the murder of our colleague. They did not. The murderer is the one who is fully responsible for his actions and we hope he is prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Craigslist is no more responsible than they would be had the advertiser been offering a babysitting service or selling a used car.
A better approach for Craigslist would be to hold its ground and stand with sex workers and sex worker rights organizations. Instead, Craigslist has chosen to shield itself by limiting our choices. This only increases our vulnerability.
On behalf of Sex Professionals of Canada, (SPOC)
Amy Lebovitch and Valerie Scott
www.spoc.ca