Craigslist Sued for Violating Fair Housing Act

Craigslist is one of the most successful sites on the Internet. It’s a classified ad sheet on steroids. Jobs galore await the unemployed there. The lonely hearts section isn’t the least popular. Students from New York can find apartments in Washington without leaving their basement in Queens. However, one group in Chicago is suing Craigslist because some of the housing ads appear to discriminate, in violation of the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

That law is pretty straightforward and represents an attempt by government to give minority citizens the same access to housing that whites get. In real estate, the only color that should matter is how much green one has to spend. Screening tenants before hand on the basis of race, family status and such is illegal (and wrong).

Some of the ads cited by The Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law read “Non-women of Color NEED NOT APPLY”; “African Americans and Arabians tend to clash with me so that won't work out”; and “Requirements: Clean Godly Christian Male.” To its credit, Craigslist isn’t defending the ads, the people who put the ads on the site or the idea that discrimination is OK.

Jim Buckmaster, Craigslist's chief executive officer, told the media by e-mail that he’s got a staff of 19, and ensuring that all 8 million ads on the site comply with the law is impossible. The Lawyers’ Committee wants Craigslist to meet the same standards that newspapers must when they accept a classified ad. Mr. Buckmaster argued, “our understanding that Internet Web sites such as a Craigslist do not have the same legal liability as print media in terms of the Fair Housing Act." Craigslist is qualitatively different from a newspaper, he wrote. “Rather, it is an Internet site where users can publish their own postings.” Nonetheless, Mr. Buckmaster said his site has a system in which its own users can flag inappropriate or illegal ads for removal. Such inappropriate ads are quickly removed, he said.

In general, the Kensington Review believes free speech and a free press are as absolute as can be. At the same time, businesses do not have these rights, only individuals do (despite what the Supreme Court has ruled). Fair access to decent housing is a reasonable expectation in any real estate market. If ever there was a business case that needed legislative, not judicial, resolution, this is it.

Editor’s Note: The Kensington Review wishes to express its gratitude to Daniel Finkelstein of The Times for his original article on this bill as well as his assistance in tracking down the report on the web.

The Danish flag appears here as a protest against the violence being done to the free press of that country and elsewhere by those offended by some cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed, peace be unto him. A perceived insult is not an excuse for intimidation and violence, even in the name of the Creator. One cannot insult God, only small-minded men who falsely claim to speak for Him. © Copyright 2006 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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