Suit seeks close of Craigslist's red-light district

does Monster.com help you get "lucky"?

" "Erotic services enables defendant to charge fees of up to $75 per post for job openings due to the significant web traffic garnered by erotic services." "

So would-be employers pay premium rates to attract potential employees who are only at the web site looking to hire a hooker?

I guess the jobs outlook in Chicago isn't nearly as bleak as elsewhere.

Of course they're only filing this lawsuit because the previous one against street corners was such a success.

(mine's the one with the Chi-Town street map in the pocket)

Why???

Why expend all of this money trying to curb something that has been around since human-kind realised that sex was actually pretty good fun.

Yes you should crack down on people being forced into prostitution against their will but the best way of doing this is to legalise and regulate like they do in the civilised world.

What exactly is wrong with one person freely providing a service that another person is happy to pay for and, importantly, has absolutly no effect on the lives of any other person?

[Paris - 'cos I would be happy to pay to give 'er one]

Single Largest Source?

Nonsense. Is Cook County saying that they have a complete comprehensive accounting of all prostitution? If so then the police themselves would have to be intimately involved. The inevitable conclusion would therefore be that CraigsList is too much competition or is not participating fully in the support of the notoriously corrupt Chicago authorities.

A Dolt Work

No suit against Adultwork?

AC, cos, well....

Pais would never pay.

Re: Why???

Two reasons.

One: Prostitution is frequently a business that gets hooked by gangs and organized crime. And either of them bring with them worse crimes such as extortion, racketeering, drug crimes, and crimes of violence. These kinds of crimes blight whatever community they entrench and are a direct threat to the population. If allowed to fester, they can also begin to undermine the local government as well. As Chi-town already has a checkered past when it comes to organized crime, it behooves their reputation to keep it under control.

Two: A real problem really arises when non-adults and especially "pre-sexual" individuals are the subjects in question. Not only is this morally repugnant in most cultures, but it shows either the child was taken unwillfully from the parent or that the parent is an amoral accomplice in the whole affair. Such scenario tend to lead to long-term problems later on, and not just Chicago, but THE FEDS can get really "testy" about such situations.

You're all missing the point

What he is saying is this.

Becuase it's on Craigs list, it's very visable and we have do our job. If they close it down, we can pretend it's not happening. Everyone one wins (well we do anyway).

go prozzies go!

Everyone loves prozzies so whats the big deal!!! - right im off to thailand!

Yeah, right

I've never been to Craigslist, but i really doubt its full of "child prostitution" like these imbeciles make out.

Come on! Try to maintain some credibility.

hypocritical ...

... coming from someone who is gets $$$ from the state for fucking people over, every day.

Chicago is NOT a paradise?

Hold on a sec, I thought all that "community organising" The Big O did there (his so-called qualification to run as Prez) made it like a paradise? Why on Earth would anyone need to commit any crime after Obama had solved all their problems? What, you mean the nasty people didn't just pack up and go away because Obama asked them to? Well, don't worry, I'm sure it will still work as a foriegn policy.

The Chicago police should shut up and simply use CraigsList as an information source, it's probably pushing their arrest rate up nicely. As the article says, CraigsList has already cut a deal with the State over their listings and will remove any that are brought to their attention as illegal. Or is it election time soon and this is just some local politician trying to look tough on crime by avoiding the real causes and blaming everything on that nasty interweb? Maybe CraigsList just didn't know any of Blago's and Obama's friends.....

Not surprising

This is not surprising to anyone who has dealt with the Illinois police department. The slightest infraction of any law is met with overwhelming and unnecessary ferocity.

What I don't understand is...

Surely NOT having Craigslist would cost them MORE money as they would have to do all of the investigative legwork upfront without the initial leads?

I guess though that would be predicated on them actually wanting to eradicate prostitution rather than simply denying it exists as it's not visible on the web.

Another US dickend who seems to have missed the point.

Better solution

Why not just make prostitution legal? Seems to me that A) People like sex, B) People are willing to break the law AND pay money to get it, and C) The economy is in the crapper.

So why not legalize it, require regular health checks and STD screenings for the ladies and gentlemen of the night (to make it safer for the customers), and then TAX THE CRAP out of it?

Oh yeah, that's right... This country still has a stick up its ass about sex. Thanks a bunch Europe for sending us all those puritans.

PS: Is it still prostitution if you barter another service in exchange for doing the deed? Say IT work? :P

Quite cheap

"accounting for 3,120 police hours at at cost of slightly more than $105,000"

$34 an hour isn't much. Where can I hire myself a police officer?

Missing the point

"While defendant does not profit from erotic services per se, erotic services is the catalyst behind Craigslist being the ninth most popular website in the country"

That tells you all you need to know. Erotic services are overwhelmingly supported by the populace.

The populace may be comprised of mostly heathens and sodomites with desires the Christian camp (myself included) find amoral, but it is not the place of law to dictate ethics.

Regulate and tax them just like tobacco and alcohol.

Expand the sin tax. If the numbers are any indication, it could help solve our (the US) deficit and fund the ridiculous bail outs.

@Charles

Considering how corrupt Chicago is rumored to be, it's entirely possibly that organized crime is behind this move. Perhaps Craigslist is making it too easy for a women to work freelance and pimps aren't happy.

Incidentally, recall from the last story that "money generated from erotic ads will be donated to charities that work to prevent child exploitation and human trafficking."

And speaking of child exploitation, "pre-sexual individuals" are not being forced into prostitution, not in this country anyway. When the "THE FEDS" did their last nationwide prostitution sweep they "rescued" (arrested) 48 "child" prostitutes "as young as" 13. That's not "pre-sexual" as you put it, and obviously that means most of them were older. If that's the worst the FBI could find in the entire US of A I seriously doubt you have knowledge of any younger people being involved.