By Denise Tessier

New Mexicans aren’t the only ones shocked to learn that online adult prostitution isn’t illegal (at least, according to a ruling by state District Judge Stan Whitaker).

News and blog sites around the nation – from the Washington Post to msnbc to the Chronicle of Higher Education – have picked up on the June 20 story that ran in the Albuquerque Journal.

Here’s a partial Google list of media outlets that picked it up:

F. Chris Garcia, Former University Of New Mexico President, Cleared Of … Huffington Post - ‎Jun 20, 2012‎  ALBUQUERQUE, NM — A state judge has ruled that the website of a former University of New Mexico president accused of helping run an online prostitution ring was legal. The case was scheduled to go before a grand jury this week.

College president ‘prostitution’ site ruled legal (New York Daily News)   The Albuquerque Journal reports District Judge Stan Whitaker ruled this week the website, an online message board and a computer account of former …

Judge: Former college president’s website isn’t ‘house of prostitution’ msnbc.com … on which a former University of New Mexico president is accused of helping run an online prostitution ring is not illegal, the Albuquerque Journal reported.

Judge: Ex-U. of New Mexico president’s website, linked to … Washington Post
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A website that authorities say two aging professors … did not constitute a “house of prostitution,” the Albuquerque Journal reported.

New Mexico college president ‘prostitution’ site ruled legal NorthJersey.com
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — A website of a former University of New Mexico … did not constitute a “house of prostitution,” the Albuquerque Journal reported.

College president ‘prostitution’ site ruled legal Fox News - ‎Jun 20, 2012‎  ALBUQUERQUE, NM – A website that authorities say two aging professors used to run a multistate prostitution ring is legal, a state judge has ruled, highlighting the difficulties that prosecutors face in using decades-old laws to combat a modern …

College prez ‘prostitution’ site ruled not illegal Newsday - ‎Jun 20, 2012‎  By The Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, NM – (AP) — A state judge has ruled that the website of …

Prostitution-Ring Case Against Ex-President of U. of New Mexico Is Put on Hold Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription) (blog) - ‎Jun 20, 2012‎  A New Mexico judge has ruled that the Web site at the center of a prostitution-ring investigation involving the former president of the University of New Mexico is not illegal …

The Journal on Monday in an editorial urged prosecutors to appeal Whitaker’s ruling and at the same time urged legislators to update state law so that a “virtual” house of prostitution is as illegal as the bricks-and-mortar kind.