SLAPP-Blog
This SLAPP Really Hertz
Auto-rental company Hertz, has recently involved itself in legal action against Audit Integrity (AI), a financial watchdog, for AIs recent research into the probability of bankruptcy filing by certain publicly traded corporations. On September 15, 2009 AI, an independent financial research team, published read more
Will the Massachusetts Anti-SLAPP Law Protect Journalists?
The Massachusetts legislature recognized the problem of Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) when it enacted its anti-SLAPP legislation, Section 59H of chapter 231 of the General Laws, “An Act Protecting the Public’s Right to Petition Government” in 1994. The legislature acted after a developer sued fifteen citizens of Rehoboth who had signed a petition against a permit for the construction of six single-family residences. The suit was eventually dismissed, but not before the fifteen citizens had incurred...
read more“Nutty” Lawsuit May be a SLAPP
In November of 2009, Miami law professor Donald Marvin Jones sued the popular website Abovethelaw.com, along with its parent company and editor David Lat, alleging $22 million in damages for posts about him. Jones had been arrested on suspicion of soliciting an undercover officer for sex, and Abovethelaw commented on the arrest, in one post calling Jones the “Nutty Professor.” Jones sued for this statement, and for damages, he alleges, arose from a collage posted by an anonymous...
read moreButler University’s Lawsuit Textbook CyberSLAPP
Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or SLAPPs, are meritless lawsuits brought against a person for urging a government result or speaking out on an issue of public interest. CyberSLAPPs are a special category of SLAPP, wherein a defendant brings a meritless – often completely frivolous or groundless – lawsuit against an anonymous speaker, in order to have the court force the speaker to reveal his or her identity. Once an entity learns the identity of an anonymous...
read moreAnalysis of ACORN Lawsuits as Potential SLAPP
Ken at Popehat has written a couple interesting blog posts about the potential of ACORN’s lawsuit as a SLAPP. His first post discusses the lawsuit, and includes a link to the complaint, while the second examines the...
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