On December 5, 2024, Representatives Jamie Raskin (MD-08) and Kevin Kiley (CA-03) introduced the Free Speech Protection Act, bipartisan legislation to protect individuals and organizations from frivolous lawsuits designed to chill free speech and political action. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) leads companion legislation in the Senate.
Read MorePrather, a First Amendment lawyer in Austin, Texas, is headed to Europe on a Fulbright scholarship to study how meritless lawsuits meant to silence critics have impacted human rights. She also plans to push European Union countries to adopt protections against those suits, like “anti-SLAPP” laws in Texas and other US states.
Read MoreNew Jersey Assemblyman Raj Mukherji (D) and Sen. Joseph Lagana (D) introduced Bill A4393 in June. This legislation would provide an expedited motion to dismiss SLAPP suits in the state, which currently has no anti-SLAPP law. Modelled after the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, the bill emphasizes the protection of free speech in all forms, including protests, publications, and more. Read more in the New Jersey Monitor.
Read MoreThe Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court reversed a judge’s decision that recently expanded legislation applied retroactively to the suit.
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 MoreAs doctors and hospitals throw considerable resources behind legal fights, some patients face huge legal bills for posting negative reviews.
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 MoreMike Masnick with Techdirt explains the recent decision to throw out the Greenpeace RICO case on anti-SLAPP grounds in California. Read more here.
Read MoreThe 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."
Read MoreA new article from Peter Hayes at Bloomberg's Toxic Laws Reporter examines the rise of SLAPPs against environmental organizations and activists.
Read MoreThe North American Olive Oil Association filed a lawsuit on Tuesday in Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta against Dr. Mehmet Oz, claiming that the TV personality made disparaging statements about the quality and purity of its members’ products on his talk show...
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 MoreA substantial bipartisan effort is underway to enact anti-SLAPP protections.
By Michael Arria / AlterNet
May 18, 2016
Currently 28 states have some kind of anti-SLAPP statutory protection. SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, which refers to litigation intended to silence critics by sticking them with the need for an exorbitant legal defense.
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