An Alaska Native corporation dropped a $24 million lawsuit against a California reporter and two news outlets. The corporation originally claimed a story investigating the company's federal contract for replacing railway structures in California damaged its reputation.
Read MoreTo stop consumer gag clauses and other practices known as strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPP suits, state and federal legislators are moving toward laws specifically spelling out consumers’ rights to post negative, fact-based reviews.
Read MoreA defamation lawsuit against several parents of former students at Agora Cyber Charter School quietly ended after 7 1/2 years. Officials closed the case because there had been no activity for more than two years.
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 MoreA Texas couple faced a lawsuit filed by their petsitter for $6,766 over a negative Yelp review. After that case was dropped, the petsitter re-filed the suit as a full-on defamation lawsuit seeking up to $1 million in damages. The couple asked the court to throw the entire case out because it should be prohibited by the Texas anti-SLAPP law.
Read MoreTwo men who sued Dollar General for defamation of character after an employee in a store called police in June 2014 to complain about the men standing outside the store have now settled out of court.
Read MoreFrom ZACH GRAVES at R Street:
The Kansas House of Representatives earlier this week passed the Enacting the Public Speech Protection Act (HB 2054) by a nearly unanimous 123-1 margin. If its overwhelming support in the House is any indication, the bill is on track to become the state’s first anti-SLAPP law, making Kansas the 30th state in the nation to pass a law to address abusive litigation aimed at thwarting free speech.
Read more here.
Read MoreA former County District Attorney filed a defamation lawsuit against a local newspaper, but a judge dismissed the suit based on the state’s anti-SLAPP law. Both parties appealed, with the defendant newspaper fighting the decision to not require the plaintiff to pay the paper’s attorney fees, as the statute provides.
Read MoreWAMU covered the push for Maryland’s “Right to Yelp” bill. Maryland would have been the second state behind California to provide such protection to reviewers under the state anti-SLAPP law.
Read MoreA developer brought suit against a Florida county and residents in connection with a project.
Read MoreIn what appears to be the highest award since Texas‘ anti-SLAPP law was enacted, “Plaintiffs in a “revenge porn” defamation lawsuit must pay $1.3 million in anti-SLAPP sanctions and attorneys’ fees and apologize for filing “baseless” claims in similar lawsuits to punish their critics, a Texas judge ruled.”
Read more about the case from Courthouse News Service here.
Read MoreThe Texas Supreme Court heard arguments Dec. 4 in a case of the first impression pitting Fort Worth-based natural gas drilling company Range Resources Corp. and its subsidiary against fracking opponents.
The companies allege the fracking opponents defamed them through statements and release of a video to the media showing a hose spewing water that was on fire. The fracking opponents sought to have the Range Resources plaintiffs’ defamation claims dismissed based on the Texas Citizen’s Participation Act, also know Texas’ anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) statute.
Read MoreA local Louisiana broadcaster faced a defamation suit, and tried to use the state anti-SLAPP statute as a defense.
Read MoreA Wyoming man requested to dismiss a lawsuit the Wyoming Lottery Corp. filed against him for allegedly trying to sabotage the corporation’s relationship with national lottery organizations. The man called the lawsuit a “SLAPP” suit.
Read MoreSeven small-business owners operating 30 tanning salons in the Omaha and Lincoln markets filed a lawsuit against the Nebraska Cancer Coalition and two of its officers.
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