Anti-SLAPP statutes are an effective way to terminate meritless lawsuits, thus reducing burdens on the courts, and at the same time promoting the exercise of speech rights.
Featured from the SLAPP-Blog
Bruce E.H. Johnson and Antoinette Bonsignore write in the Seattle Times, "It’s critical for the Legislature to restore the safeguards and protections in a 2010 statute that had protected sexual-assault survivors from defamation lawsuits by their abusers."
Read more here.
PPP Policy Director Evan Mascagni published an Op-Ed in Ohio that ran in several newspapers across the state advocating for anti-SLAPP legislation in Ohio. The Op-Ed is published in full below.
Immediately following a report by the New York Times that he allegedly sexually assaulted numerous women throughout his career, Harvey Weinstein threatened to sue the Times for defamation. For First Amendment legal scholars, this comes as no surprise. There’s a long history of powerful bullies attempting to use the legal system to silence their critics.
PPP Policy Director Evan Mascagni published an Op-Ed in the Albany Times Union advocating for stronger anti-SLAPP legislation in New York:
"New York is often regarded as the media capital of the world, but in our state, opinions expressed through traditional media outlets, blogs, social media and consumer review websites are not always protected from those who disagree with them."
This morning, the Public Participation Project submitted the below letter to the Massachusetts’ Judicial Committee in support of H2263 and S756, an anti-SLAPP bill currently before the Massachusetts House and Senate.
SLAPPs in the News
Rick Blum writes:
"President Donald Trump’s legal threats against the publisher and author of the most recent insider account of the White House may strike a nerve with journalists who are fearful of expensive legal defenses and chill valuable news reporting, but the threats could lose much of their power if states or Congress strengthened a tool that judges may use to dismiss meritless lawsuits involving speech protected under the First Amendment."
Read more here.
Mike Masnick with Techdirt explains the recent decision to throw out the Greenpeace RICO case on anti-SLAPP grounds in California. Read more here.
The Northern California Record reports:
"A San Mateo County Superior Court ruled in favor of social media giant Facebook in an appeal brought against the company's anti-strategic lawsuit against public participation (anti-SLAPP) motion as well as to strike the original complaint and award the company its attorney’s fees for the appeal."
The ACLU filed an amicus brief supporting John Oliver, whose TV segment comparing coal executive Robert Murray to Dr. Evil led to a defamation suit from Murray and his companies. LawNewz calls it the "Snarkiest Legal Brief Ever." Read more here.