Judge Dismisses Backpage Lawsuit Against Cook County Sheriff

CHICAGO, IL — A federal judge Friday dismissed a three-year-old lawsuit against Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart by defunct classified website Backpage. Accused of facilitating sex workers and human trafficking, the site was seized by federal authorities in April after an Arizona grand jury issued a 93-count indictment against seven of its owners and top staffers. Its CEO, 57-year-old Carl Ferrer of Frisco, Texas, has since pleaded guilty to conspiracy to facilitate prostitution using a facility in interstate or foreign commerce and to engage in money laundering.

Filed in 2015, the company's lawsuit alleged that Dart violated Backpage's free speech rights by sending letters to credit card companies asking them to stop doing business with the site.

Even as Backpage "attacked the Sherrif's Office in court," Dart's office said in a release, federal investigators believe the company's top officials were knowingly working to facilitate prostitution on the website.

The sheriff's office cited the 2016 case of Desiree Robinson, a 16-year-old girl who was trafficked on the site and murdered in Markham by a Chicago man.

Robinson's mother has subsequently filed suit against Backpage and lobbied for recent changes to federal law to hold websites liable for user generated content that "promotes or facilitates prostitution."

In his guilty plea, Backpage founder Ferrer admitted conspiring to create moderation processes to revise ads that too obviously related to prostitution.

Further, once credit card companies and other financial institutions refused to deal with the company, it began hiding the sources of its funding.

Dart has also filed a pending motion against Backpage and its attorneys asking a judge to sanction them for all fees and costs associated with the suit.

Law firms that have represented Backpage in the past argue that Ferrer's guilty plea does not retroactively "cure the sheriff's illegal actions," according to court records.

They warn that granting Dart's demand for sanctions would have a chilling effect on free speech by intimidating lawyers from pursuing First Amendment claims against overreaching government officials.

Related:

• Backpage.com Shut Down As Federal Government Makes Moves
• Backpage Indictment Details Sex Trafficking, Money Laundering
• Backpage CEO Pleads Guilty In Texas
• Murdered Teen's Backpage Pimp Charged With Sex Trafficking: FBI
• Backpage Website Sued Over Teen Girl's Death
• Craigslist Shuts Down Personals After Congress Acts
• Sex Trafficking Victim Files Suit Against Craigslist And Backpage