Public Participation Project Argues for Strong Interpretation of Illinois Anti-SLAPP Law
The Public Participation Project joined with the Citizen Media Law Project,Harvard Law School's Cyberlaw Clinic, the Online News Association and Chicago Current all worked to urge the Illinois appellate court to construe the Illinois statute in line with the clear meaning and intent of its language.
Illinois has one of the broadest anti-SLAPP laws in the country, but the trial court in this case appeared to believe that its language should be narrowly construed. Please see the CMLP website for the language of the briefs and more information about the case.
Michigan House Passes H.S. 5036
Lansing, Michigan August 19, 2010
Public Participation Project Applauds The Michigan House of Representatives For Passage of Strong Anti-SLAPP Bill With Bipartisan Support
The Public Participation Project is proud to report that the Michigan House of Representatives passed a strong Anti-SLAPP bill (HB 5036) on August 19, 2010 with bipartisan support. Justin Kurtz, Public Participation Project's Field Director and the victim of a SLAPP lawsuit, testified before the Michigan House of Representatives in support of the bill. The Public Participation Project urges the Michigan Senate to pass this important legislation promptly.
Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduces the Citizen Participation Act of 2009, H.R. 4364, in Congress.
Wednesday, December 15, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), introduced an important piece of legislation to protect First Amendment rights. The Citizen Participation Act, H.R. 4364 would protect citizens who exercise the First Amendment rights of petition (communicating with their government) and free speech. Too often over the past few decades, those who speak out on important issues have become the targets of meritless lawsuits.
Examples of such lawsuits, frequently called SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation), include:
- In Nebraska, farmers who reported a neighboring hog producer's farms violated environmental regulations were sued by the hog producer.
- In San Francisco, a police officer sued a woman who saw him beating a suspect and reported him for police brutality.
- In Minnesota, a man arrested on stalking charges sued the neighbor who reported the man's suspicious behavior to the police.
- In Texas, a person who had benefited from an eminent domain deal sued the author of a book about the deal, along with the book's publisher, a newspaper that reviewed the book, and Professor Richard Epstein, who had written a blurb on the book jacket.
These cases are only the tip of the iceberg in a disturbing trend to use the courtroom as a weapon to silence those who speak out on important issues. Rather than fight speech with speech, too many resort to meritless and even frivolous lawsuits to make the point that they are unhappy with another’s free expression or communication with the government.
The Citizen Participation Act would provide qualified immunity for petitioning activity, meaning that it protects good faith communications with the government – like reporting crimes, writing a letter to the school board, or testifying before Congress. These communications are the very foundation of a representative democracy, and petitioning activity is mentioned separately in the First Amendment. The CPA would protect those who are engaged in civic society, rather than allow them to be sued for their participation.
The law also provides procedural protections, for both petitioning activity and speech about an issue of public interest. A defendant who is sued for petitioning or speaking out on a public issue can make a special motion to dismiss. Once the defendant shows that the lawsuit arose from protected activity, the plaintiff has to show that her case has minimum merit, legally and factually. If the plaintiff cannot make this showing, the court must dismiss the lawsuit, and the defendant can recover fees and costs.
This burden-shifting scheme screens only meritless cases, and does so quickly. Further, while the motion is pending, neither party can take discovery, the expensive and time-consuming process whereby each party solicits information in the other’s possession. This way, costs are kept low, and so is the intimidation factor of the lawsuit. Too often, defendants cave into pressure of a lawsuit, because even a meritless lawsuit can take years and thousands of dollars to defend against. A defendant might “correct” or retract statements, or muzzle himself as part of a settlement agreement. The result is that private lawsuits can impose a gag on speech as effective as any government ban.
Rep. Steve Cohen is a staunch defender of First Amendment rights. Earlier this year, he sponsored legislation to end the practice of libel tourism, where those who speak out are sued in foreign courts (particularly those in Great Britain) that afford less protection for free speech.
More than eighty organizations and individuals have signed on in support of the Citizen Participation Act. To add your organization, please contact the Public Participation Project, which is spearheading the effort to secure passage of the Citizen Participation Act.
OMB Watch highlights FASP's efforts in an excellent piece about the benefit of anti-SLAPP laws for nonprofit public interest organizations.
Nonprofits Active in Efforts to Prevent Use of Courts to Discourage Public Participation
Posted on September 29, 2009
Nonprofit organizations have recently been active in efforts to prevent the use of lawsuits designed to discourage public participation. Nonprofits across the country have played a role in the campaign to eliminate Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs). These efforts coincide with a pending legislative proposal to combat SLAPP suits on the federal level.
See the rest of OMB Watch's article here.
Representative Cohen (D-TN) to Sponsor Federal Anti-SLAPP Legislation
Washington, DC
July 8, 2009
Representative Steve Cohen of Tennessee has agreed to sponsor the Citizen Participation in Government and Society Act of 2009. Representative Cohen is a strong First Amendment rights advocate. While a state senator in Tennessee, he sponsored that state's anti-SLAPP legislation. Recently, he secured passage of "Libel Tourism" legislation through the U.S. House of Representatives. Libel tourism legislation protects against lawsuits arising from speech that are brought in foreign jurisdictions to avoid First Amendment protections.
Federal anti-SLAPP legislation is needed to combat the growing use of the justice system as a weapon to intimidate, harass and silence those that engage in public participation. The proposed legislation provides immunity for petitioning activity - any activity aimed at procuring a government outcome - and protects speech in connection with an issue of public interest. Any citizen, advocate or organization who speaks out on public issues should be encouraged - not punished - for doing so.
The proposed legislation protects such speech by allowing the defendant of a meritless lawsuit to bring a motion to quickly dismiss that lawsuit, and to recover the fees, costs and damages incurred in defending against it.
Join our coalition of supporters, and help Representative Cohen and Congress put an end to SLAPPs.
The Federal Anti-SLAPP Project Supports H.R. 2765
June 29, 2009
Washington, DC
FASP is pleased to support HR 2765, which was introduced by Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN) and passed the House on June 15, 2009. The law would amend Part VI of title 28, United States Code to prohibit courts from recognizing or enforcing foreign defamation judgments where those judgments are in violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The law would also prevent courts from recognizing or enforcing judgments against internet service providers or publishers that is inconsistent with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act or that the jurisdiction exercised by the foreign court failed to comport United States due process requirements.
Association of Capitol Reporters Endorses the Citizen Participation in Government and Society Act.
Capitolbeat has joined an effort which seeks to protect against the filing of frivolous lawsuits against those speaking out on matters of public concern by becoming a formal supporter of federal “Anti-SLAPP” legislation. There is currently draft legislation, titled the “Citizen Participation in Government and Society Act of 2009”, which is the product of several months’ worth of work amongst free speech advocates. Read the rest here.
The Federal Anti-SLAPP Project Endorses Free Speech Protection Act
May 28, 2009
Berkeley, California
The Federal Anti-SLAPP Project (FASP) is proud to endorse the Free Speech Protection Act of 2009. This bill will protect free speech by combatting a pernicious practice known as "libel tourism."
Libel tourism is the practice of suing United States persons for speech in countries with weaker protections for expression than the U.S.
Such suits are a type of Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, or SLAPP, forcing defendants to either bear the expense of defending themselves in distant, unfriendly courts, or default and suffer a judgment for speech that is protected and valued in the U.S.
The Free Speech Protection Act of 2009 would allow a defendant of a libel tourism suit to bring the person or entity that sued him or her into U.S. Federal Court. The defendant can seek damages incurred as a result of the foreign suit, as long as the speech at issue in the foreign suit does not constitute defamation under U.S. law.
The bill would also provide for triple damages if the court determines that the person or entity bringing the foreign lawsuit intentionally engaged in a scheme to suppress rights under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The Free Speech Protection Act is a critical safeguard to free expression that has been under attack outside the borders of the U.S., and FASP proudly endorses the legislation.
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PPP Endorses Free Flow of Information Act of 2009
May 28, 2009
Berkeley, California
The Federal Anti-SLAPP Project endorses the Free Flow of Information Act of 2009, commonly known as the Reporter's Shield bill.
Although the House and Senate versions differ as to the breadth and depth of their protection, each recognizes that a free and independent press plays a vital role in a well-functioning democracy.
The Free Flow of Information Act would provide a qualified privilege to journalists to shield sources from disclosure, except in certain situations, such as when national security is at stake.
Ensuring that reporters can keep sources confidential is vital to ensuring the free flow of information to the public, and FASP supports the Free Flow of Information Act of 2009.