Carl Ferrer's attorneys asserted the case "presents a question of exceptional nationwide importance. | AP Photo Supreme Court gives Backpage.com temporary stay in Senate probe

The Supreme Court has granted online advertising site Backpage.com a temporary stay to block demands from a Senate subcommittee for internal documents and testimony related to illegal sex trafficking with minors, according to a just-released order.

Carl Ferrer, CEO of Backpage.com, filed an appeal on Tuesday with the Supreme Court seeking a stay as it appeals a lower-court ruling requiring it to turn over information to the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.


In an order, Chief Justice John Roberts gave Senate lawyers until Sept. 9 to respond to Ferrer's request.

Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), the panel's chairman, and Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri), the ranking member, issued a subpoena to Backpage last year for documents and testimony as part of their investigation into sex trafficking of minors. Portman and McCaskill allege that Backpage has repeatedly posted advertising tied to such trafficking, and they issued a subpoena to Backpage to find out its internal policies on policing such ads, which the company refused to comply with. Following a rare contempt-of-the-Senate vote, lawyers for the subcommittee have gone to court to enforce the subpoena.

Ferrer and Backpage have countered that the company has First Amendment protection. However, a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia disagreed. On Friday, the court lifted its stay of the disclosure order, meaning Ferrer and Backpage would have 10 days to comply with the PSI subpoena. Ferrer wants his appeal to be heard by the full court.

In the Tuesday filing with the Supreme Court, Ferrer's lawyers argued that turning over the materials sought by Portman and McCaskill now will cause Ferrer "irreparable injury." Ferrer wants the Supreme Court to block disclosure until the full appeals court rules on the case.

"Unless it is immediately stayed, the Disclosure Order will cause Mr. Ferrer irreparable injury because he becomes subject to an immediately effective directive to produce documents in violation of his First Amendment rights," Ferrer's lawyers said in their request to Roberts. "Once documents are produced, the harm to Mr. Ferrer could not be remediated — rendering any subsequent victory on appeal before the D.C. Circuit illusory. To preserve Mr. Ferrer’s right to meaningful appellate review of an order in violation of his constitutional rights, this Court should stay the District Court’s Disclosure Order pending review by the D.C. Circuit."

Ferrer's attorneys asserted the case "presents a question of exceptional nationwide importance involving the protection the First Amendment provides to online publishers of third-party content when they engage in core editorial functions." They noted that Backpage turned over 16,000 pages of documents to the subcommittee, "but objected to portions that burden core editorial functions in violation of the First Amendment."

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article listed the incorrect state for Sen. Claire McCaskill.