Although it is not clear whether Judge Brett Kavanaugh would compile a similar record on the Supreme Court, we can make a few tentative predictions based on his record in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. (Of course, all of the usual caveats associated with predicting the behavior of lower court judges once elevated to the Supreme Court apply.)
Read MoreThree “international businessmen” claim they were defamed by certain statements contained in one of the reports comprising the “Trump Dossier.”
Read MoreIn February, several entities owned by Tavis Smiley sued the Public Broadcasting System, alleging that PBS’s public statements – that it had received multiple credible allegations of misconduct by Smiley and that it had conducted an investigation into those allegations – were false and defamatory, and led to the alleged cancellation of existing contracts and interference with future business relationships.
Read MoreIn the final post of a three-part series from guest contributor Leslie Paul Machado, Chair of LeClairRyan's Media, Internet and E-commerce Industry Team, Mr. Machado discusses the impact of these decisions on the legal landscape and the need for a federal anti-SLAPP law.
Read MoreIn the second post of a three-part series from guest contributor Leslie Paul Machado, Chair of LeClairRyan's Media, Internet and E-commerce Industry Team, Mr. Machado discusses the D.C. Circuit's decision on whether the D.C. anti-SLAPP statute can be used in federal diversity cases.
Read MoreIn the first post of a three-part series from guest contributor Leslie Paul Machado, Chair of LeClairRyan's Media, Internet and E-commerce Industry Team, Mr. Machado discusses the background of the D.C. anti-SLAPP statute.
Read MoreLeslie Machado provided an update on cases in which anti-SLAPP special motions to dismiss were filed. The cases were filed in D.C. federal court and D.C. Superior Court. Notably, the Superior Court stayed its case pending the resolution of a virtually-identical case in Ohio.
Read MoreA Superior Court judge refused to use the DC anti-SLAPP statute to stop an arbitration, nothing that the dispute was subject to Delaware law (pursuant to a choice-of-law provision in the arbitration agreement) and Delaware’s much narrower anti-SLAPP statute did not reach the conduct at issue.
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 MoreFrom Mike Masnick at Techdirt:
"We’ve discussed for quite some time the importance of anti-SLAPP laws, and how it’s ridiculous that we don’t have a federal anti-SLAPP law. Once again, anti-SLAPP laws are used to toss out bogus lawsuits that were clearly filed for the sake of silencing someone’s speech (SLAPP stands for “Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation”). Right now only some states have them, and there are many variations in the various state laws, with some much better than others. Unfortunately, a new ruling in the DC Circuit appeals court may make state anti-SLAPP laws much less effective. That’s because it says, more or less, that state anti-SLAPP laws only apply to cases in state/local courts, and not those that are in federal court (such as any case between two parties in different states).
More here.
Read MoreIn 2001, the members of Southeast Citizens for Smart Development (SCSD) peacefully protested the proposed development of a home for troubled teens called Boys Town in its community. The builders sued the District of Columbia for violations of the Fair Housing Act, but they named as defendants of the suit the SCSD and two of its members.
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