PPP Policy Director Evan Mascagni was quoted in a new article about an ongoing legal dispute involving Trump University:
“Trump’s team also filed a counterclaim against Makaeff, accusing her of defamation.
Makaeff responded by filing something called an anti-SLAPP motion, the details of which were described in a blog post by Evan Mascagni, Policy Director of the Public Participation Project.
SLAPP, Mascagni explained to Sinclair stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.
“It’s basically a lawsuit brought to silence a critic,” Mascagni explained. Opposed to going to court to seek justice, the person bringing the SLAPP attempts to drown the critic in legal fees.
In states without anti-SLAPP laws, Mascagni explained, SLAPPs can be effective because they can get people caught up in the legal process.
“Even a merit-less lawsuit can take years and many thousands of dollars to defend against.”
Read the full article here.