EXHIBIT A

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UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

EASTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI 

BACKPAGE.COM, LLC, 

 Plaintiff, 

 v. 

JOSHUA D. HAWLEY, in his official 

capacity as Attorney General of the State of 

Missouri, 

 Defendant.

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Civil Action No. 4:17-cv-01951-PLC 

DECLARATION OF JAMES GRANT IN 

SUPPORT OF OPPOSITION TO 

DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS

I, James Grant, declare as follows: 

1. I am an attorney in the firm of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP (“DWT”), which 

represents plaintiff Backpage.com, LLC in this action. I make this declaration based upon my 

personal knowledge and records and information that I or others in my office have obtained. 

2. Attached as Exhibit A is a true and correct copy of a letter dated August 16, 2017 

from the National Association of Attorneys General to Chairman Roger Wicker and Ranking 

Member Brian Schatz of the Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation 

and the Internet Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and Chairman Marsha 

Blackburn and Ranking Member Michael Doyle of the House of Representatives Subcommittee 

on Communications and Technology Committee on Energy and Commerce. The letter proposes 

amendment of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. 

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States that the foregoing is 

true and correct. 

EXECUTED at Seattle, Washington, this 25th day of August, 2017. 

s/ James C. Grant 

James Grant 

 

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CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 

 I hereby certify that on August 25, 2017, the foregoing was filed electronically with the 

Clerk of Court to be served by operation of the Court’s electronic filing system to all counsel of 

record. 

s/ James C. Grant 

James C. Grant 

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Exhibit A 

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August 16, 2017 

The Honorable Roger Wicker 

Chairman 

Senate Subcommittee on Communications, 

Technology, Innovation and the Internet 

Committee on Commerce, Science and 

Transportation 

The Honorable Brian Schatz 

Ranking Member 

Senate Subcommittee on Communications, 

Technology, Innovation and the Internet 

Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

Transportation 

The Honorable Marsha Blackburn 

Chairman 

House of Representatives Subcommittee on Communications 

and Technology 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

The Honorable Michael Doyle 

Ranking Member 

House of Representative Subcommittee on Communications and 

Technology 

Committee on Energy and Commerce

RE: Amendment of Communications Decency Act 

Dear Chairman Wicker, Ranking Member Schatz, Chairman Blackburn, and 

Ranking Member Doyle: 

In 2013, Attorneys General from 49 states and territories wrote to 

Congress, informing it that some courts have interpreted the Communications 

Decency Act of 1996 (“CDA”) to render state and local authorities unable to 

take action against companies that actively profit from the promotion and 

facilitation of sex trafficking and crimes against children. Unfortunately, 

nearly four years later, this problem persists and these criminal profiteers 

often continue to operate with impunity. The recent news highlighting the 

potential complicity of online classified-ad company Backpage.com in 

soliciting sex traffickers’ ads for its website once again underscores the need 

1850 M Street, NW to expand, not limit, the ability of all law-enforcement agencies to fight sex 

Twelfth Floor

Washington, DC 20036

Phone: (202) 326-6000

http://www.naag.org/

Exh. A, Pg. 1 of 6

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trafficking.1

 The undersigned Attorneys General once again respectfully request that the United 

States Congress amend the CDA to affirm that state, territorial, and local authorities retain their 

traditional jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute those who facilitate illicit acts and endanger 

our most vulnerable citizens. 

As noted in the 2013 letter, certain federal courts have broadly interpreted the CDA.2 One 

high-profile result is that some state and local law enforcement agencies have been left powerless 

to act against online classified ad services, such as Backpage.com, which have constructed their 

business models around advertising income gained from participants in the sex trade.3

 Just a few 

examples of the countless instances of child sex trafficking — and its online promotion — that 

occur every day in the United States include the following: 

 Police in Stockton, California recently arrested more than 20 people in a human 

trafficking and prostitution ring. Eight girls between the ages of 14 and 17 were 

being trafficked for sex using advertisements on Backpage.com.4

 Federal and state law enforcement recently arrested a Chicago man accused of 

pimping a 16-year-old girl via Backpage.com, leading to her murder. The man 

“shopped [the girl] around on Backpage.com,” delivered her to a customer, and 

then fell asleep in his car outside a parking garage. When he awoke, he 

discovered the girl’s body in the garage, “her throat slit and her body badly 

beaten.”5

 

1 Tom Jackman and Jonathan O’Connell, Backpage has always claimed it doesn’t control sex-related ads. 

New Documents show otherwise, Washington Post, July 11, 2017, available at 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/backpage-has-always-claimed-it-doesnt-control-sex-relatedads-new-documents-show-otherwise/2017/07/10/b3158ef6-553c-11e7-b38e-35fd8e0c288f_story.html (last visited 

July 12, 2017). 

2

See, e.g., Senate Permanent Subcommittee v. Ferrer, 199 F. Supp. 3d 125, 136 (D.D.C. 2016), vacated as 

moot, 856 F.3d 1080 (D.C. Cir. 2017); Backpage.com, LLC v. McKenna, 881 F. Supp. 2d 1262, 1275 (W.D. Wash. 

2012); M.A. v. Village Voice Media Holdings, LLC, 809 F. Supp. 2d 1041, 1048–56 (E.D. Mo. 2011); Dart v. 

Craigslist, 665 F. Supp. 2d 961, 965 & n.6 (N.D. Ill. 2009); Doe v. Bates, 2006 WL 3813758, at **3–5 (E.D. Tex. 

Dec. 27, 2006); see also Google, Inc. v. Hood, 96 F. Supp. 3d 584, 596–98 (S.D. Miss. 2015), vacated & remanded 

on other grounds, 822 F.3d 212 (5th Cir. 2016). 

3

 While Backpage.com claims to have shut down its prostitution/escort ads after a U.S. Senate hearing in 

January, there are reports of the ads merely moving to different sections. See Brian Rokos, Backpage.com Removes 

‘Escort’ Ads – Or Does It?, Press-Enterprise, Jan. 11, 2017, available at http://www.pe.com/articles/backpage822842-ads-subcommittee.html/ (last visited July 6, 2017); Kevin Litten, New Orleans Backpage Prostitution Ads 

Now Listed as Dating Ads, Human Trafficking Experts Say, Times-Picayne, Jan. 17, 2017, available at 

http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/01/backpage_prostitution_new_orle.html (last visited July 6, 2017); 

Stephen Koff, Backpage.com Still Appears to Be Running Ads for Prostitutes, Sexual Services, Cleveland.com, Jan. 

12, 2017, available at http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2017/01/backpagecom_might_not_have_act.html

(last visited July 6, 2017). 

4

 Sarah Heise, 23 Arrested for Human Trafficking, Prostitution in San Joaquin County, KCRA 3, May 5, 

2017, available at http://www.kcra.com/article/23-arrested-in-san-joaquin-county-human-trafficking/9588063 (last 

visited June 29, 2017). 

5 Feds Charge Man for Prostituting 16-Year-Old Girl Before Her Murder, ABC 7 Eyewitness News, June 

21, 2017, available at http://abc7chicago.com/news/feds-charge-man-for-prostituting-16-year-old-girl-before-hermurder/2128793/ (last visited June 29, 2017). 

Exh. A, Pg. 2 of 6

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 Police in Georgia recently arrested three people who used Backpage.com to 

pimp a pregnant 17-year-old girl.6

 Police in Florida recently arrested a woman who used Backpage.com to 

prostitute a missing 16-year-old girl throughout Broward County.7

Clearly, in these instances, Backpage.com is facilitating — and profiting from — these 

illegal activities. However, certain interpretations of the CDA have resulted in companies like 

Backpage.com remaining outside the reach of state and local law enforcement in these kinds of 

cases. We do not believe that was Congress’s intent in passing the CDA, and we do not believe 

that is Congress’s intent now. It is both ironic and tragic that the CDA, which was intended to 

protect children from indecent material on the internet,8

 is now used as a shield by those who 

profit from prostitution and crimes against children. 

Federal enforcement alone has proved insufficient to stem the growth in online promotion 

of child sex trafficking. Those on the front lines of the battle against the sexual exploitation of 

children — state and local law enforcement — must have the clear authority to investigate and 

prosecute facilitators of these and other horrible crimes. Thus, we recommend that 47 U.S.C. 

§ 230(e)(1) be amended to the following (added language in bold): 

Nothing in this section shall be construed to impair 

the enforcement of section 223 or 231 of this title, 

chapter 71 (relating to obscenity) or 110 (relating 

to sexual exploitation of children) of title 18, or any 

other Federal, State, or Territorial criminal statute. 

We are aware of efforts in Congress to preserve state criminal statutes that prohibit 

certain kinds of sexual exploitation and sex trafficking, and to preserve federal and state statutes 

that provide causes of action, restitution, or other civil remedies to victims. We ask that, in 

addition to these efforts, Congress consider enacting our proposed change. We believe the CDA 

should be clear in preserving both state and territorial law to the same extent that it preserves 

federal law — i.e., the CDA should be clear that it preserves all state and territorial criminal 

statutes, just as it preserves all federal criminal statutes. The simple addition this letter proposes 

would do just that and will help to ensure that we are able to effectively protect citizens and 

 

6

 Ross Cavitt, Trio Accused of Pimping Pregnant Teen for Sex, WSB-TV 2, June 23, 2017, available at 

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/cobb-county/trio-accused-of-pimping-pregnant-teen-for-sex/539101607 (last 

visited June 29, 2017).

7

 Tonya Alanez, Girl, 19, Accused of Pimping Out Missing 16-Year-Old, Sun Sentinel, June 2, 2017, 

available at http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/plantation/fl-teen-female-pimp-arrest-20170601-story.html

(last visited June 29, 2017). 

8

 104 Cong. Rec. S2308-01 (daily ed. June 14, 1995) (statement of Sen. Coats) (“Mr. President, all you 

have to do is pick up the telephone and call the FBI, ask their child exploitation task force about the volume of overthe-Internet attempts to seduce, abuse, and lure children into pornography and sexual exploitation.”); 104 Cong. 

Rec. H8470 (daily ed. Aug. 4, 1995) (statement of Rep. Cox) (“We want to encourage people like Prodigy, like 

CompuServ, like America Online, like the new Microsoft network, to do everything possible for us, the customer, to 

help us control, at the portals of our computers, at the front door of our house, what comes in and what our children 

see.”).

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children throughout the entire country, in all courts. We thank you for your attention to this vital 

matter. 

Respectfully, 

Karl A. Racine Pamela Jo Bondi 

District of Columbia Attorney General Florida Attorney General 

Steve Marshall Jahna Lindemuth 

Alabama Attorney General Alaska Attorney General 

Mark Brnovich Leslie Rutledge 

Arizona Attorney General Arkansas Attorney General 

Xavier Becerra Cynthia H. Coffman 

California Attorney General Colorado Attorney General 

Matthew Denn Chris Carr 

Delaware Attorney General Georgia Attorney General 

Douglas S. Chin Lawrence Wasden 

Hawaii Attorney General Idaho Attorney General 

Lisa Madigan Curtis T. Hill Jr. 

Illinois Attorney General Indiana Attorney General 

Tom Miller Derek Schmidt 

Iowa Attorney General Kansas Attorney General 

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Andy Beshear Jeff Landry 

Kentucky Attorney General Louisiana Attorney General 

Janet T. Mills Brian Frosh 

Maine Attorney General Maryland Attorney General 

Bill Schuette Lori Swanson 

Michigan Attorney General Minnesota Attorney General 

Jim Hood Josh Hawley 

Mississippi Attorney General Missouri Attorney General 

Tim Fox Douglas Peterson 

Montana Attorney General Nebraska Attorney General 

Adam Paul Laxalt Gordon MacDonald 

Nevada Attorney General New Hampshire Attorney General 

 

Christopher S. Porrino Hector Balderas 

New Jersey Attorney General New Mexico Attorney General 

Eric T. Schneiderman Josh Stein 

New York Attorney General North Carolina Attorney General 

Wayne Stenehjem Mike DeWine 

North Dakota Attorney General Ohio Attorney General 

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Mike Hunter Ellen F. Rosenblum 

Oklahoma Attorney General Oregon Attorney General 

Josh Shapiro Wanda Vázquez Garced 

Pennsylvania Attorney General Puerto Rico Attorney General 

Peter Kilmartin Alan Wilson 

Rhode Island Attorney General South Carolina Attorney General 

Marty J. Jackley Herbert H. Slatery, III 

South Dakota Attorney General Tennessee Attorney General 

Ken Paxton Sean Reyes 

Texas Attorney General Utah Attorney General 

T.J. Donovan Mark R. Herring 

Vermont Attorney General Virginia Attorney General 

Robert W. Ferguson Patrick Morrisey 

Washington Attorney General West Virginia Attorney General 

Brad Schimel Peter K. Michael 

Wisconsin Attorney General Wyoming Attorney General 

Copy: The Honorable John Thune, Chairman, Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

 Transportation; The Honorable Bill Nelson, Ranking Member, Senate Committee on 

 Commerce, Science, and Transportation; The Honorable Greg Walden, Chairman, House 

 of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce; The Honorable Frank Pallone, 

 Ranking Member, House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce

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