SLAPP-Blog
Jay Leno and NBC Sued Over Mitt Romney Joke
In what looks like a potential SLAPP, Jay Leno and NBC are being sued after he made a joke involving Mitt Romney and the Sikh holy shrine temple. “Jay Leno thought he was poking gentle fun at the lifestyles of rich and famous Republican presidential candidates — Mitt Romney in particular. But last Thursday when Leno’s slide show came to a location cited as Mitt Romney’s summer home — in reality an image of the Sikh holy shrine Golden Temple in Amritsar, India — it sparked a diplomatic incident. And now, a lawsuit charging Leno...
read moreIL Supreme Court Narrows State Anti-SLAPP Law
The Illinois Supreme Court recently narrowed the scope of the state’s anti-SLAPP law in Sandholm v. Kuecker. In the case, a high school coach sued for defamation against the defendants after they began “a campaign to oust him as the head basketball coach. In the process of their campaign, the Plaintiff alleged that the Defendants defamed him. The Appellate Court dismissed the Plaintiff’s defamation case and ordered that the Plaintiff pay part of the Defendant’s attorneys’ fees under the Anti-SLAPP lawsuit.” The...
read moreD.C. court grants first dismissal under new anti-SLAPP law
“A District of Columbia judge ordered the first dismissal under the jurisdiction’s new anti-SLAPP law, finding at the start of a defamation lawsuit that a firefighter failed to show a “likelihood of success” in challenging a television broadcast about his high levels of overtime earnings. Judge Rufus G. King III of the D.C. Superior Court applied the new anti-SLAPP statute – which stands for “strategic lawsuits against public participation” – retroactively and granted the dismissal motion...
read moreOR Community leaders fear federal lawsuit could stifle public participation in local land use
Community leaders throughout Clackamas County, OR, are rallying against a federal lawsuit filed by a developer that they fear could stifle public participation in local land use decisions and government. “Leaders of the Mt. Hood Corridor community planning organization say the lawsuit they face from local developer Kip O’Connor is a strategic lawsuit against public participation, often referred to as a SLAPP suit. They say the intent of the lawsuit is to intimidate residents and CPO board members from participating in local...
read moreABA selects piece on anti-SLAPP statutes for collection of best writings
The American Bar Association recently published its fourth annual collection of the best writing on land use law, At the Cutting Edge 2011: Land Use Law from The Urban Lawyer. One of the articles included in the collection is: “Robber Barons, Back-Stabbers, and Extortionists: How Far Does Anti-SLAPP Protection Go?” by Mintz Levin Attorneys Paul D. Wilson and Noah C. Shaw “The article “concerns “Anti-SLAPP” statutes now enacted in nearly half the states, which are intended to prevent real estate developers from...
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