In 1982, the United States Supreme Court ruled that states cannot prohibit the peaceful protest of a political boycott. This ruling followed after a coalition of Black Mississippi citizens launched two boycotts against white businesses in the area. In response, the boycotted merchants filed a lawsuit in Mississippi state court. Despite not being labeled as such at the time, this suit was a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.
Read MoreIn 1908, Roosevelt filed a retaliatory libel suit against Journalist Joseph Pulitzer over statements in several newspaper articles. The suit would span into a years-long battle that would ultimately land before the Supreme Court.
Read MoreRead about Kelcy Warren’s ongoing defamation suit against Democrat, Beto O’Rourke.
Read MoreAfter facing repercussions for “misleading Massachusetts investors about the fossil fuel-driven climate change risks to its business and deceptively advertising its fossil fuel products to Massachusetts consumers.” Exxon tried to dismiss the suit using anti-SLAPP laws. The Massachusetts supreme judicial court denied the motion preserving the purpose of the anti-SLAPP law.
Read MoreRick Blum, Policy Director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, writes about President Trump's recent legal threats against the author and publisher of "Fire and Fury" to illustrate the need for stronger legal protections for journalists' reporting and other protected speech.
Read more here.
Read MoreLeClairRyan writes on the D.C. Anti-SLAPP Blog about a lawsuit involving two scientists, journal papers, and the National Academy of Sciences to highlight the need for a federal anti-SLAPP statute, "or why the DC anti-SLAPP statute needs to apply in a federal court diversity case."
Read more here.
Read MoreRick 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.
Read MoreIn a paradigmatic CyberSLAPP, Butler University in Indiana brought suit against an anonymous poster who had made comments about the school’s dean. The school filed a libel suit, which some commentators called “hopeless,” in January of 2009.
Read MoreIn 1992, deputy sheriff Gary Spencer shot and killed a citizen during execution of a search warrant in California. Following an investigation by the district attorney, the deputy was exonerated.However, the district attorney’s public report of the investigation questioned the veracity of the affidavit supporting the search warrant, suggesting that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was “motivated, at least in part, by a desire to seize and forfeit the ranch for the government…. Based in part upon the possibility of forfeiture, Spencer obtained a search warrant that was not supported by probable cause.”
Read MoreIn California, the Monterey Plaza Hotel sued the Hotel Employees Local 483 after a member of the union made comments about firings conducted by the hotel. The union successfully invoked California’s anti-SLAPP statute to quickly dismiss the case.
Read MoreIn 2000, hog producer Furnas County Farms in Nebraska sued two local farmers for defamation arising from written comments the farmers had filed about Furnas’ environmental record with state regulators. The farmers countersued under the Nebraska anti-SLAPP law, and in 2005, a jury rejected Furnas’ defamation claims and ordered it to pay $900,000 in damages plus legal fees.
Read MoreIn 2004, Sharper Image sued Consumers Union for its poor review of a Sharper Image air cleaning system in Consumer Reports. CU successfully invoked the California anti-SLAPP law to dismiss the case.
Read MoreIn 2007, Smithfield foods filed a federal lawsuit against the United Food and Commercial workers, claiming that the union orchestrated a public smear campaign to hurt Smithfield’s business as a method of extorting the company and alleging $5 million in damages. Part of the “smear campaign” was the encouragement of local government entities to censure Smithfield’s practices.
Read MoreIn 1990, the California housing rights organization Eden Council for Hope and Opportunity (ECHO) assisted an African-American woman in filing a complaint with the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and in prosecuting a small claims court action against her landlords.
Read MoreIn Washington state, in 1986, police entered the homes of two Roma (Gypsy) families on a faulty warrant and searched family members – including a baby – who were not the subjects of the warrant. The families sought $59 million in damages, and the city and county countersued in federal court, alleging violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).
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