SLAPP-Blog — Public Participation Project

Mother Jones Wins Ridiculous SLAPP Suit Filed By Billionaire...Who Still Claims Victory

"Mother Jones, the well-known, politically-focused publication, has prevailed in a ridiculous SLAPP suit filed by billionaire Frank VanderSloot. VanderSloot was upset about a 2012 profile that Mother Jones published about him, his multi-level marketing, dietary supplement company Melaleuca, and the millions of dollars he was donating to Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. VanderSloot insisted that the article was defamatory, though you’ll have to squint really hard to figure out where and how.

SLAPPs in the NewsEvan MascagniOctober 16, 2015SLAPPs in the News, Press & Media SLAPPs, IdahoComment

Defamation suit brings parish brass to court

A local Louisiana broadcaster faced a defamation suit, and tried to use the state anti-SLAPP statute as a defense.

State Anti-SLAPPEvan MascagniSeptember 29, 2015Louisiana, State Anti-SLAPP

59 Legal Scholars Sign Letter Supporting SPEAK Free Act to Create Federal Anti-SLAPP Law!

Today, Eric Goldman, PPP Board Member and Director of the High Tech Law Institute and law professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, sent a letter to members of the House of Representatives expressing support for the SPEAK FREE Act. Including Eric, 59 law professors and legal scholars from across the country signed on to this letter.

You can read more and view the actual letter here.

Federal Anti-SlappEvan MascagniSeptember 16, 2015SPEAK FREE Act, Federal Anti-SLAPP Legislation, Eric GoldmanComment

How California's anti-SLAPP law helped a nonprofit news site prevail in court

From Corey Hutchins with Columbia Journalism Review:

"IN A CASE THAT HIGHLIGHTS both a point of potential vulnerability for many news startups and the significance of broad anti-SLAPP statutes, a California judge this week dismissed a lawsuit against inewsource.org, a nonprofit investigative newsroom in San Diego.

In the world of media lawsuits, this one was anything but ordinary. The suit had been brought in April by San Diegans for Open Government, a local nonprofit, and though it took aim at inewsource’s basic operating model, it didn’t go directly after the newsroom’s editorial output.

U.S. needs an anti-SLAPP law like California's

It’s a sadly familiar sight in courthouses around the country: A deep-pocketed corporation, developer or government official files a lawsuit whose real purpose is to silence a critic, punish a whistleblower or win a commercial dispute. That’s why California enacted a law in 1992 to give people a preemptive legal strike against frivolous lawsuits that seek to muzzle them on public issues. This sort of safeguard doesn’t exist in almost two dozen other states or in federal law, unfortunately, but a group of tech-friendly lawmakers is trying to change that.

Federal Anti-SlappEvan MascagniAugust 19, 2015Federal Anti-SLAPP Legislation, CaliforniaComment

Judge hears Cheyenne man's request to dismiss lottery case

A 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.

State Anti-SLAPPEvan MascagniAugust 10, 2015Wyoming, Consumer Speech

SLO lawyer sues former client over online reviews

From Chris McGuinness at New Times:

"Was your dinner served cold or undercooked? Was the waitress rude? Did the mechanic who fixed your car overcharge you? These days, letting the whole world know about your dissatisfaction with a business is as easy as jumping on a laptop or smartphone and leaving a scathing review.

James Woods sues Twitter troll for calling him cocaine addict

PPP Board Member, Eric Goldman, and PPP Policy Director, Evan Mascagni, were recently quoted in an article highlighting James Woods’ $10 million lawsuit against a Twitter user.

Read the full article from Stephen Loiaconi at KUTV here.

Tanning salons sue Nebraska Cancer Coalition for defamation

Seven 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.

State Anti-SLAPPEvan MascagniJuly 22, 2015Nebraska, State Anti-SLAPP

PPP Joins 33 Other Organizations in Letter Urging Congress to Enact SPEAK Free Act

This morning, the Public Participation Project joined 33 other organizations in sending a letter to Chariman Goodlatte, Ranking Members Conyers, Chairman Franks, and Ranking Member Cohen in the House of Representatives, urging them to advance the bipartisan SPEAK FREE Act as swiftly as possible.

Here is a link to the letter and below is a list version of those organizations that signed on to the letter.

Federal Anti-SlappEvan MascagniJuly 15, 2015SPEAK FREE Act, Federal Anti-SLAPP LegislationComment

Pa. Senate Passes Anti-SLAPP Measure

Law360, Philadelphia (July 1, 2015, 3:14 PM ET) — The Pennsylvania Senate threw its overwhelming support on Tuesday to legislation that would authorize monetary penalties for plaintiffs found to have filed so-called strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPP suits, designed to stifle criticism against businesses and developers.

Sen. Larry Farnese, D-Philadelphia, said that the legislation he sponsored would not only require courts to quickly hold hearings to determine a potential SLAPP suit’s legitimacy but also allow targets of frivolous litigation to recover damages.

State Anti-SLAPPEvan MascagniJuly 8, 2015Pennsylvania, State Anti-SLAPPComment

Florida's broader anti-SLAPP law effective July 1, 2015

From Phelps Dunbar LLP at Lexology:

"Effective July 1, 2015, Florida will have broader prohibitions against SLAPP suits, or “strategic lawsuits against public participation.” Many states have enacted anti-SLAPP laws to prevent companies and government entities from filing frivolous lawsuits against their critics. For example, when a citizen or consumer posts a negative comment about a governmental program or a company’s services, the entity subject to the criticism may choose to file a defamation or infringement lawsuit against the individual who posted the comment. Such lawsuits have become more prevalent due to the popularity of websites geared towards consumer reviews, such as yelp.com."

State Anti-SLAPPEvan MascagniJuly 1, 2015State Anti-SLAPP, FloridaComment

Nutty Trollish Guy On The Internet Files Nutty Trollish Defamation Lawsuit In Random State

From Mike Masnick at TechDirt:

"Okay, look. We’ve really tried to ignore Chuck Johnson. It’s pretty obvious that he’s the kind of guy who does a bunch of the stuff that he does to get more attention. We’ve never covered his various hilarious legal threats, though you can see a bunch of them nicely cataloged at this website. If you’re not aware, you can do some Google searches, but suffice it to say that he plays a “journalist” on the internet, and he’s somewhat infamous for the various stunts he pulls, combined with his penchant for threatening people with libel, as well as for many of his biggest stories being, well… ridiculous. A few weeks ago he threw something of a public tantrum because Twitter kicked him off its service. He had a lawyer in Missouri, John Burns, send a ridiculous threat letter to Twitter, based on an interpretation of the law that might be described as “crazy” by some and… “wrong” by many others.

MOMENTUM BUILDS FOR FEDERAL ANTI-SLAPP LAW

by: Mark Goldowitz

CASP Joins 33 Other Organizations in Letter Urging Congress to Enact SPEAK FREE Act.

Washington State Says Its Anti-SLAPP Law Is Unconstitutional

From Mike Masnick at TechDirt:

"For years, we’ve talked about the importance of anti-SLAPP laws that help quickly toss out lawsuits whose sole purpose are to silence critics. A key point that we’ve made is the need for a federal anti-SLAPP law, because until then, we’re at the mercy of a patchwork of state laws. Some states have no anti-SLAPP law. Some have weak ones. A few have strong ones. In just the past month alone we’ve discussed Florida strengthening its anti-SLAPP law, and Nevada’s attempt to weaken its anti-SLAPP law. Meanwhile, a court in DC issued a ruling that greatly limited the effectiveness of DC’s anti-SLAPP law

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