Washington Supreme Court rules against Backpage.com

Headline Legal News

The website Backpage.com may not be immune from state liability law and a lawsuit filed by three young girls who said they were sold as prostitutes on the website can proceed to trial, the Washington Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
 
In a 6-3 decision, the justices said the federal Communications Decency Act does not protect Backpage from state lawsuits because of allegations that the company didn't just host the ads, but helped develop the content.

"The plaintiffs before us have been the repeated victims of horrific acts committed in the shadows of the law," said Justice Steven Gonzalez, writing for the majority. "They brought this suit in part to bring light to some of those shadows: to show how children are bought and sold for sexual services online on Backpage.com in advertisements that, they allege, the defendants help develop."

The case should proceed because the girls have alleged facts that, if proved, would show that Backpage helped produce illegal content, the justices said.

Related listings

  • Court cuts prison sentence for Memphis 'sovereign citizen'

    Court cuts prison sentence for Memphis 'sovereign citizen'

    Headline Legal News 09/03/2015

    An appeals court has reduced the prison sentence for a self-described sovereign citizen who was convicted of assaulting two police officers during a traffic stop. Tabitha Gentry was convicted in April 2014 of two counts of aggravated assault and one ...

  • Appeals court: Kansas abortion opponent must stand trial

    Appeals court: Kansas abortion opponent must stand trial

    Headline Legal News 07/29/2015

    A Kansas abortion opponent must stand trial over a letter she sent to a Wichita doctor saying someone might place an explosive under the doctor's car, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.   The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned lat...

  • Ill. high court rejects intervention on state paychecks

    Ill. high court rejects intervention on state paychecks

    Headline Legal News 07/20/2015

    The Illinois Supreme Court has denied a request by state officials to decide the issue of paying government workers during the budget crisis. The high court made no comment Friday in rejecting the plea by Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Madigan sought...

Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC

A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party

Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party

However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.

Business News

New York Adoption and Family Law Attorneys Our attorneys have represented adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoption agencies. >> read
DuPage IL worker's comp lawyers Since 1962, the law firm of Krol, Bongiorno & Given, Ltd. has been a leader in the field of workers’ compensation law in DuPage, Illinois. >> read