It’s all over the news: Boston U med student meets 26 year-old, NY prostitute via Craigslist and murders her. Based upon the increase of crimes committed via Craigslist and existing law, does Julissa Brisman’s family have a viable tort claim against Craigslist?
While many use Craigslist for lawful activities, e.g., finding a a roommate, buying furniture or selling a car, a majority of Craigslist users frequent the site for erotic services.
The creators and managers of Craigslist are well aware of this activity and have cooperated with legal authorities. In order to safeguard the public from sexual predators and violence, Craigslist now requires all posters of erotic services to provide a credit card number. This number can help legal authorities track down criminals.
However, is this enough? Craigslist is not preventing illegal, dangerous activities, rather it is knowingly enabling them.
Conscientious of it’s clientele and unlawful activities, Craigslist has a broad limitation of liability:
16. LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL CRAIGSLIST BE LIABLE FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT,
INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (EVEN IF CRAIGSLIST
HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM ANY
ASPECT OF YOUR USE OF THE CRAIGSLIST SITE OR THE SERVICE, WHETHER THE
DAMAGES ARISE FROM USE OR MISUSE OF THE CRAIGSLIST SITE OR THE SERVICE, FROM
INABILITY TO USE THE CRAIGSLIST SITE OR THE SERVICE, OR THE INTERRUPTION,
SUSPENSION, MODIFICATION, ALTERATION, OR TERMINATION OF THE CRAIGSLIST SITE
OR THE SERVICE. SUCH LIMITATION SHALL ALSO APPLY WITH RESPECT TO DAMAGES
INCURRED BY REASON OF OTHER SERVICES OR PRODUCTS RECEIVED THROUGH OR
ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE CRAIGSLIST SITE OR THE SERVICE OR ANY
LINKS ON THE CRAIGSLIST SITE, AS WELL AS BY REASON OF ANY INFORMATION OR
ADVICE RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE CRAIGSLIST SITE
OR THE SERVICE OR ANY LINKS ON THE CRAIGSLIST SITE. THESE LIMITATIONS SHALL
APPLY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. In some jurisdictions,
limitations of liability are not permitted. In such jurisdictions, some of
the foregoing limitation may not apply to you.
Moreover, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996 (47 U.S.C. § 230) provides immunity from liability for providers and users of an “interactive computer service” who publish information provided by others:
No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.
To qualify for immunity, Craigslist must meet the following three prongs applied by US courts:
1. The defendant must be a “provider or user” of an “interactive computer service.”
2. The cause of action asserted by the plaintiff must “treat” the defendant “as the publisher or speaker” of the harmful information at issue.
3. The information must be “provided by another information content provider,” i.e., the defendant must not be the “information content provider” of the harmful information at issue.
Based upon a lineage of cases, if Julissa Brisman’s family were to sue, a court would likely find Craigslist immune from civil liability.
Ms. Filutowski has a track record of recovering over $3.5 million dollars for her clients through negotiations, arbitrations, mediations and trial.
