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Craigslist sues over S.C. official's prosecution threatsCOLUMBIA, S.C., May 20, 2009 (McClatchy Newspapers - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- Craigslist has sued South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster in federal court, asking a judge to stop him from threatening to prosecute executives of the popular Internet classified ad site on prostitution or obscenity charges. In the 34-page lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Charleston, the San Francisco-based company said that, given McMaster's "persistent and continuing public threats," it faces the "untenable choice of either completely shutting down" the South Carolina portion of its Web site or "else putting itself and its management at risk of imminent criminal prosecution." The suit _ the first of its kind in the U.S. by Craigslist _ also names the state's 16 solicitors as defendants, contending they are "subordinates of defendant McMaster" who "may be directly or indirectly influenced to follow through on his threats to prosecute Craigslist and its management." The company sought an immediate temporary restraining order against McMaster and the solicitors, though a hearing wasn't held Wednesday, a U.S. District Court spokeswoman said. In a prepared statement, McMaster, a probable Republican gubernatorial candidate next year, described the suit as "good news," saying, "It shows that Craigslist is taking the matter seriously for the first time." "More importantly," he continued, "overnight they 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 advertisements. If they keep their word, this is a victory for law enforcement and for the people of South Carolina." But University of South Carolina law professor Ann Bartow, who specializes in Internet law, predicted McMaster likely would lose the lawsuit if it goes to trial. "He's going to get his head handed to him on a platter, based upon pre-existing case law," she said, adding McMaster lost a federal Internet censorship case in 2005. Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor who follows the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes South Carolina, said the suit could be a strategy by Craigslist to "work out a reasonable settlement" with McMaster. Still, he noted a 1997 ruling by the 4th Circuit in a Virginia Internet case _ which Craigslist cited as a "seminal decision" supporting its position _ "came down on the side of the First Amendment." On Monday, there were 334,180 Craigslist ads listed in South Carolina; more than 50 million Americans use the mostly free service monthly, posting more than 40 million classified ads in at least 100 categories, the company said in court papers. McMaster has said the "erotic services" section _ which the company shut down Tuesday nationwide and replaced with an "adult services" section _ often has been a front for prostitution, and obscene pictures routinely are posted in various sections of the Web site. Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said earlier that his deputies made 121 prostitution-related arrests from Craigslist ads over a two-year period. In court papers, the company contended a November written agreement with 40 state attorneys general, including McMaster, resulted in a more than 80 percent drop in the number of ads in the former erotic services section. But McMaster rejected the company's proposal last week that it would manually monitor the new adult services section, contending it doesn't go far enough in ridding the South Carolina site of illegal ads. He announced he would launch an investigation after saying the company missed his Friday deadline to clean up the state portion of the site. "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," Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster said Wednesday on his company blog. (EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM) In an interview Monday, Buckmaster wouldn't comment directly about whether his company was planning to sue McMaster or the state, saying only, "Threats are not really my style. I'll just leave that right where it is." (END OPTIONAL TRIM) An attorney representing the company, Philip Leider of San Francisco, said Wednesday in a written statement to The State newspaper that the suit was brought "as a last resort in response to threats by Attorney General McMaster that violated the U.S. Constitution and federal law." Craigslist will drop the suit if McMaster "agrees to the declaratory relief" it is "seeking in the lawsuit," Leider said. (EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE) The suit asks that a federal judge "permanently enjoin" McMaster and the 16 solicitors from "issuing further threats" against Craigslist, and from "initiating or pursuing any such prosecution." Babs Lindsay, spokeswoman for Barney Giese, the solicitor for Richland and Kershaw counties, said Giese is "going to stand with his attorney general." Donnie Myers, the solicitor for Lexington, Saluda, Edgefield and McCormick counties, questioned why he was named as a defendant, explaining his office doesn't handle first-offense prostitution cases, which are tried in lower magistrate or municipal courts. "I've never had a prostitution case in general sessions court," he said. Craigslist contends in court papers that under the federal 1996 Communications Decency Act, the company cannot be held liable for content posted by users of the site, even if the ads are illegal. Bartow agreed: "(McMaster) can go after the posters, but he can't go after Craigslist. If you bought a car from Craigslist and it didn't work, would you blame Craigslist?" McMaster contends Craigslist cannot knowingly violate state law. ___ (c) 2009, The State (Columbia, S.C.). Visit the State at http://www.thestate.com/ Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. 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