Dart, it would seem, felt the site was making his job too easy. After all, what better way to bust a hooker than to fire up the old Interwebz, pose as a john, and set up a sting.
Either that or Dart wanted to make a name for himself by hopping on the bandwagon of attorneys general condemning the site despite the fact that they donate all profits from the Adult Services section to charity and steer users toward anti-child exploitation organizations, unlike dozens of other "service-providing" websites that are much more blatant and infinitely more shady.
Ahem.
Fortunately, the American legal system had better sense than to side with the sheriff. His lawsuit was dismissed yesterday by a district court judge.
Via NBC Chicago:
"Craigslist unabashedly facilitates prostitution, then ultimately makes a profit from it," Dart said in a release, pointing to the estimated $80 million in revenues Craigslist generated in 2009.A public orgy will be held later this afternoon in Chicago's Lincoln Park to celebrate Judge Grady's pro-prostitution ruling.
U.S. District Judge John F. Grady didn't agree.
"Sheriff Dart may continue to use Craigslist's Web site to identify and pursue individuals who post allegedly unlawful content," Grady wrote in his ruling. "But he cannot sue Craigslist for their conduct."
(You wish.)
