Kramer Levin Files Amicus Brief for Everytown for Gun Safety in the Wisconsin Supreme Court

On Jan. 15, 2019, Kramer Levin filed an amicus brief in the Wisconsin Supreme Court on behalf of Everytown for Gun Safety, the nation’s largest gun violence prevention organization, with supporters in all fifty states fighting for public safety measures that respect the Second Amendment and help save lives. 

Our brief supports plaintiff Yasmeen Daniel’s claims against Armslist LLC (“Armslist”) arising from the 2012 shooting murder of her mother, Zina Haughton (“Zina”), at the Azana Spa in a Milwaukee suburb.

On Oct. 18, 2012, Zina obtained a restraining order against her husband Radcliffe (“Haughton”) that prohibited him from approaching her or possessing a firearm for four years. Two days later, Haughton accessed Armslist’s online marketplace, which connects gun sellers and purchasers. Haughton arranged on Armslist to buy a handgun and three high-capacity magazines from a stranger. The next day, Haughton walked into the spa where Zina worked.  He used the handgun to murder her and two co-workers and injure four others, before killing himself.

Zina’s daughter sued Armslist and several others, asserting claims for negligence, negligence per se, public nuisance, and wrongful death, but the lower court dismissed the claims as barred by the Communications Decency Act (“CDA”), a federal law that states that, “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” Zina’s daughter argues on her appeal that the CDA is inapplicable because she is suing Armslist for its own negligent and intentional actions and content — namely, designing its website to facilitate private, anonymous illegal gun purchases — and not for publishing the gun seller’s information.

Our amicus brief argues that “the tragedy underlying this case epitomizes the critical importance of holding accountable online marketplaces like Armslist that are irresponsibly designed to permit people who are prohibited from having guns to obtain guns,” that “Armslist’s freedom to profit from its online marketplace should come with the responsibility to bear the costs of the resulting foreseeable harm,” and that the CDA “should not be interpreted to abrogate Wisconsin’s common law of negligence by giving Armslist a free pass.” Our brief presents the results of four Everytown investigations, in Nevada, Oregon, Washington and New Mexico, which found that online gun marketplaces attract and facilitate unlicensed gun sales, with no questions asked and no background checks, to buyers who are legally barred from possessing a gun. This poses an enormous threat to public safety. 

The Circuit Court of Milwaukee County dismissed Ms. Daniel’s claims against Armslist, but the Wisconsin Court of Appeals reinstated them in April 2018. Kramer Levin also filed an amicus brief on behalf of Everytown in support of that victory.

The case is Daniel, et al. v. Armslist, LLC, et al., No. 2017 AP 000344. The Kramer Levin team was Litigation partner Michael J. Dell and special counsel Karen Steinberg Kennedy.