• by Wendy Davis  @wendyndavis, October 9, 2015

Siding against Backpage, a federal appellate court on Thursday refused to temporarily block Cook County, Illinois sheriff Thomas Dart from lobbying credit card companies to stop doing business with the site.

The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals didn't give a reason for its decision, which denied Backpage's request for an injunction pending appeal. While the judges ruled against Backpage this week, they could still enjoin Dart at the conclusion of the case.

The 7th Circuit's decision means that Dart can continue pursuing efforts to de-fund Backpage.com, at least for now. Dart, like other critics of Backpage, says that most of the site's adult ads are actually thinly disguised prostitution ads.

Dart has been one of the loudest critics of online listings sites. As far back as 2009, Dart unsuccessfully sued Craigslist for allegedly creating a "public nuisance" by allowing users to post prostitution ads. More recently, in June of this year Dart wrote to Visa and Mastercard and asked them to stop processing payments for Backpage.com's adult services. Both companies not only agreed to Dart's request, but went even further and terminated all business with the site.

Backpage then began offering adult services ads for free. The company also sought a court order banning Dart from continuing with his campaign to defund the site. Backpage says it isn't responsible for crimes by users, and that Dart's actions jeopardize Backpage's ability to provide an online forum for speech.

U.S. District Court Judge John Tharp, Jr. in Illinois Illinois, initially sided with Backpage and issued a temporary restraining order against Dart.

But Tharp subsequently allowed that order to expire, ruling that an injunction wasn't appropriate because Dart presented evidence showing that Mastercard and Visa were already considering ending their relationships with Backpage before he got involved.

Tharp also said that Dart has a constitutional right to express his opinion and to "publicly criticize the credit card companies for any connection to illegal activity, as long as he stops short of threats."

Backpage is now appealing that ruling to the 7th Circuit. The company, which sought an injunction while the appeal moved forward, said in its papers that "ample evidence" showed that Visa and Mastercard stopped processing payments for Backpage "because they felt threatened by Sheriff Dart."

Dart countered that he never threatened the financial companies. "Here, there is no evidence that the credit card companies considered the letters to be a threat -- in fact, the evidence is otherwise," he wrote in papers filed earlier this week with the 7th Circuit.

Dart added: "Contrary to Backpage‘s contention, government officials, including law enforcement officials, retain their own First Amendment rights to speak on matters of public concern."