Guy Sues Wikipedia & Craigslist For $1 Billion Because (He Claims) He Found Nudity On Both

Too Much Free Time

from the pro-se-me dept

Admittedly, most pro se lawsuits (filed by an individual, without a lawyer) are complete junk — and on any given day you can find some really silly lawsuits. But sometimes they’re worth highlighting anyway, just for how amusing they can be. Eric Goldman alerts us to the following lawsuit, filed by one Russell Dan Smith, arguing that both Craigslist and Wikipedia should be barred from being available in the state of South Carolina, and that each should be forced to pay $500 million, with half going to the state of South Carolina (might help with the budget) and half going to Russell Dan Smith (might help with the monthly payments he has to make on his $10,000 Puma camper).

What, you might ask, should force both sites to be blocked in the great state of South Carolina, as well pay up a billion dollars, combined? According to Mr. Smith, both sites “have been and still do openly promote child prostitution and the distribution of child pornography.” Also, “both defendants also promote adult prostitution and nudity designed to excite prurient interests in the people viewing it.” How does Mr. Smith know this? Because, he notes, he discovered such things on both sites, but “not intentionally.” You see, “the pictures came to him by way of his surfing defendants’ websites for valid non-pornographic purposes.” You see, “plaintiff does not and does not want to view such nudity as heretofore described.” Understood, of course. And “for allowing such nudity of children and adults to be seen by those who do not want to see it, both defendants are liable of attempting to lure other persons to share in this crime.”

Mr. Smith also highlights the fact that Craigslist sued South Carolian Attorney General Henry McMaster — a lawsuit that was tossed out, but is being appealed. He claims that “there is a probability shown by the preponderance of the evidence that defendant Craigslist was a criminal organization suing the Attorney General of the State of South Carolina for no other reason than that the State had been investigating the organization and intended therefore to paralyze by fear of further action.” Of course, as covered in detail at the time, McMaster had been threatening to put Craigslist execs in jail, for actions of its users — actions clearly protected under Section 230 of the CDA, which other courts have highlighted. Craigslist’s offensive lawsuit was not to “sue McMaster,” so much as to get a declaratory judgment that it had done nothing wrong, so as to stop McMaster from continued grandstanding.

As one final point, it does seem worth pointing out that, on the documents filed, there is a note reading that “frivolous civil proceedings may be subject to sanctions….” Seems worth pointing out…

Filed Under: lawsuits, porn, pro se, south carolina
Companies: craigslist, wikipedia