Event Summary:
Every day, Internet users generate millions of new posts on blogs, social networks, and e-commerce platforms to share their opinions and feedback with others. However, some individuals have found their rights under assault as they are threatened with meritless lawsuits introduced for the sole purpose of silencing their voices.
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 Rhode Island restaurant filed a lawsuit against six people who posted to the restaurant’s Facebook page alleging the oysters served at the restaurant were stolen from a local “shellfisherman.” A lawyer for one of the defendants called the lawsuit a "SLAPP” suit intended to silence his client.
Read MoreAnti-SLAPP news out of California this week:
Animal Rights activist Marcy Winograd has hired Mark Goldowitz, Director of Anti-SLAPP Project, to represent her in a “Free Speech case” before California Court of Appeal.
A Los Angeles public school teacher and Santa Monica resident, Winograd will be represented by Goldowitz in Angel and Nester vs. Winograd.
In November, 2014, pony ride operators Tawni Angel and Jason Nester filed a defamation lawsuit against Winograd for her petition campaign to end what she allege is “animal cruelty at the Main Street Farmers Market in Santa Monica.” Winograd and nearly 2,000 petition signers object to what they describe as “a cramped petting zoo and pony ride in which ponies are tethered to metal bars and forced to circle barefoot in one direction on concrete for almost four hours each Sunday.”
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 MoreFrom Jason Linkins at Huffington Post:
According to reports, Republican legislators are having an uneasy time cottoning to the notion that real estate developer and white-supremacist cuddle muppet Donald Trump seems to be on the glide path to becoming their party’s standard-bearer.
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.
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 MoreYesterday, a coalition of free-market, pro-consumer groups sent a letter in support of the SPEAK FREE Act to members of the House Judiciary Committee.
Here’s a portion of that letter:
“On behalf of the undersigned free-market organizations, we write to express our strong support for H.R. 2304, the SPEAK FREE Act, and urge you to move it swiftly through markup.
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 MoreWhen consumers review products or services online, they shouldn’t fear a virtual slap on the hand while they type. But that’s exactly what’s happening as a result of a handful of businesses who hide behind SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) laws to silence public opinion when they don’t agree with it. Congress needs to act now to ensure that Americans are free to speak their minds.
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