PASADENA, Calif. — The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling yesterday sending back the Backpage case (known as “USA vs. Larkin” after Jim Larkin, former co-owner with Mike Lacey of the adult online classifieds website) to Judge R. Gary Klausner of the Central District of California.
The ruling follows the oral arguments on July 9, part of the ongoing saga regarding shutting down of the Backpage.com classifieds website and the seizure of millions of dollars in assets, which has been unraveling since the defendants’ March 28, 2018 indictment in Phoeniz, Ariz.
Paul Cambria, counsel for Lacey and part of the defense team, told XBIZ then that his clients had “asked the 9th circuit to vacate the stay that was issued by the district court preventing us from litigating the legality of the seizure of Backpage funds.” According to Cambria “the government conceded during oral arguments that we were correct. Most legal observers, including XBIZ, concurred.
“The government was not effective at all and they conceded that the stay had to be vacated,” Cambria said then.
Yesterday, as expected, the three-judge appellate panel vacated the stay, clearing the way for the Backpage legal team to attempt a defense on First Amendment grounds, arguing that the seizure of the assets related to Lacey and Larkin’s publishing operation before a trial or conviction prevents them from defending themselves properly, and therefore it could have dire consequences for freedom of speech.
The government has endless resources, Cambria and the rest of the team argue, and therefore it can misuse this precedent to prevent publishers whom a particular administration dislikes from defending themselves from any accusation alleged by the state.
For more XBIZ coverage of the Backpage case, click here.