July 24--A federal judge on Friday granted a temporary restraining order against Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart, forbidding him from lobbying credit card companies to block their cards from being used to buy ads on Backpage.com.
The order from U.S. District Judge John Tharp Jr. comes days after the online classified ad site that is similar to Craigslist sued Dart in federal court in Chicago, saying the sheriff's actions violated freedom of speech protections.
In issuing the order, Tharp said Backpage had met its burden of showing it has "more than a negligible likelihood" of ultimately succeeding in its lawsuit and that it otherwise would suffer irreparable harm.
The order took effect immediately and will remain in effect for at least 10 days. Tharp said he will set a hearing date next week for Backpage's request for a preliminary injunction.
Dart issued a statement Friday afternoon saying he would abide by the order and "looks forward to continuing this important litigation in court."
For years, Dart has grabbed headlines in his fight to get online classified ad sites to drop their adult services sections, saying they are a haven for pimps and human traffickers. Dart's campaign recently prompted Visa and MasterCard to pull their cards from use on the site. American Express took similar action early this year.
But Backpage is fighting back, arguing that the sheriff's efforts violated First Amendment protections and crippled the site financially.
The lawsuit also seeks a preliminary injunction requiring Dart to write new letters to the credit card companies rescinding his previous statements, as well as punitive damages and compensation for lost revenue "to provide punishment and as deterrence."
The suit focuses on letters Dart sent to Visa and MasterCard in late June on the sheriff's official letterhead asking the companies to "immediately cease and desist from allowing your credit cards to be used to place ads on ... Backpage.com," which the sheriff said promotes and facilitates sex trafficking.
Within 48 hours of the letters being sent, Visa and MasterCard announced their withdrawal from the site, prompting Dart to hold a news conference to declare victory. He also lashed out at Backpage for what he said was its refusal to acknowledge how pimps and traffickers use the ads in its adult section.
jmeisner@tribpub.com
