PPP Policy Director Evan Mascagni was recently quoted in a KY Sunday Edition story on WDRB discussing proposed anti-SLAPP legislation in KY:
Mascagni, a Louisville native, praised Kulkarni for "starting this important conversation in Kentucky" and told WDRB he would be coming home this year to "help advocate for a comprehensive bi-partisan solution to this problem."
Read MorePPP Policy Director Evan Mascagni was interviewed for a segment on SLAPPs for CBS This Morning.
"We're seeing a rise in individuals being sued for speaking out online," said Evan Mascagni, who works for the Public Participation Project. He says many lawsuits are designed simply to intimidate. They're called "SLAPP" lawsuits (for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation).
"A SLAPP filer doesn't go to court to seek justice; they are just trying to silence or harass or intimidate a critic of theirs," Mascagni said.
Read MorePPP Policy Director Evan Mascagni was recently interviewed for an article on how a Canadian anti-SLAPP law could help survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.
Read MorePPP Policy Director, Evan Mascagni, co-authored a piece with Julio Sharp-Wasserman on Techidrt about how federal anti-SLAPP legislation would make CDA 230 more effective.
Read MorePPP 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.
Read MorePPP 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."
Read MorePPP Policy Director Evan Mascagni published an op-ed in today’s Richmond Times-Dispatch advocating for anti-SLAPP legislation in Virginia:
“Perhaps no person in the history of American politics has framed the importance of advocating for individual liberties better than Thomas Paine, one of our nation’s Founding Fathers..
Read MorePPP Board Member Sophia Cope and PPP Policy Director Evan Mascagni were recently quoted in a front page story of the San Francisco Chronicle on SLAPPs.
“There are bullies out there who seek to silence individuals for speaking out on matters of public interest,” said Evan Mascagni...
Read MorePPP Policy Director Evan Mascagni was recently quoted in a USA Today article about Donald Trump and SLAPPs:
Trump isn’t alone in trying to “hijack the judicial system” to silence critics, said Evan Mascagni, policy director at the Public Participation Project, an advocacy group lobbying for a federal anti-SLAPP law.
Read MorePPP Policy Director Evan Mascagni was recently quoted in a Politico article about SLAPPs and Donald Trump:
Trump’s litigiousness has extended into the presidential campaign. In November, following reports of a $2.5 million pro-Kasich super PAC investment in anti-Trump ads, Trump tweeted: “I will sue him just for fun!
In some cases, he has openly acknowledged that going to court is less about seeking justice and more about joyfully punishing enemies.
Read MorePPP Policy Director Evan Mascagni was recently quoted in an article about SLAPPs and the SPEAK FREE Act by Gene Policinski:
The proposed law would allow defendants to transfer lawsuits from state to federal courts, particularly valuable in 22 states that do not have an anti-SLAPP law or in those with weak protection. Farenthold said the law also will provide a means in federal court to quickly resolve a SLAPP lawsuit “before the legal fees run up.”
Read MorePPP Policy Director Evan Mascagni was quoted in a new article about an ongoing legal dispute involving Trump University:
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.
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