SLAPP Blog
The information on this website is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. The information here is meant to provide general information to the public. We would be happy to consider your specific situation and the possibility of providing legal advice or assistance if you contact us directly.
Lance Armstrong v. USADA Lawsuit a SLAPP?
If you have been following the post-retirement travails of Lance Armstrong, former professional cyclist, cancer survivor and seven-time Tour de France champion, you know that he has found himself in some serious trouble lately. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has gathered what officials apparently believe to be a very strong case that Armstrong took illegal performance-enhancing drugs during his reign as the world’s top cyclist. Several members of his former circle of teammates and support staff, including doctors who allegedly...
read moreHow the Anti-SLAPP Law Protects Lawyers
Lawyers are frequently subject to malicious prosecution suits and other claims arising from their work on behalf of clients, some meritorious, some not. One of the benefits of the California anti-SLAPP law (and similar laws in other states) is that it provides a procedure for lawyer defendants to dispense with some of these professional hazards quickly, before the expenses of discovery and protracted litigation have been incurred. (Although the law, notably, does not apply to malpractice claims brought by the client the lawyer was...
read moreWhat to Do When You Receive a Threat Letter
As I have noted here before, before filing a lawsuit, a SLAPP filer will frequently first send you a threat letter. This letter will state that if you do not stop exercising your First Amendment free speech and/or petition rights, you will be sued, possibly for hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. (Of course, the SLAPP threaten-er will not call the activity you have engaged in “free speech” or “petition,” and they certainly will not mention the First Amendment; they will call it libel, slander,...
read more‘The Bachelor’ Racial Discrimination Suit Barred by First Amendment?
Recently, a class action lawsuit was filed against the producers and broadcasters of the popular reality television programs “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,” claiming that the show discriminates against people of color in its casting decisions. (Entertainment Weekly’s report on the lawsuit here; complaint and further reporting on the suit from the Hollywood Reporter here.) The suit, Claybrooks v. ABC, et al., is apparently a bit innovative — as Entertainment Weekly reports in their article, experts...
read moreBanking Defamation Statute Ruled Unconstitutional, Case Ruled a SLAPP
Very interesting decision by California’s First Appellate District in a case called Summit Bank v. Rogers this week regarding a 100-year old criminal defamation statute, Financial Code section 1327, which makes it a misdemeanor for any person to make any untrue statement or circulate any untrue rumor that is “derogatory to the financial condition or affects the solvency or financial standing of any bank.” The statute, which has apparently been only very rarely enforced, was enacted with the purpose of preventing the types of...
read moreAnother (Even More Outrageous, Unconstitutional) “Cyberbullying” Law
Following up on our post regarding the ridiculously overbroad first draft of Arizona’s new cyber harassment law, it seems the state legislature of New York has also hopped aboard the bandwagon of passing unconstitutional prior restraints on internet speech. (Where is the support for these bills coming from, anyway?) The New York bill, no. S06779, would essentially ban all anonymous online speech, requiring website administrators to remove any anonymous comments “upon request” unless the poster agrees to reveal not only...
read moreFormer Church Member Sued for Negative Review of Church
TechDirt and others are reporting on an interesting possible SLAPP filed by an Oregon church, the Beaverton Grace Bible Church, against a former member who wrote a bad review of the church online on her blog. The statements the church claims to be defamatory reportedly include calling the church “creepy” — which is almost certainly a statement of opinion and not defamatory. However, other statements — such as statements about the church allowing a known sex offender to be near children — could be defamatory if...
read moreExample of a SLAPPed Blogger Fighting Back
Great post by James Skyles at askacyberlawyer.com showing how a SLAPPed blogger sued in Georgia has fought back against the plaintiff in his lawsuit. The letter embedded in the post does a good job of explaining some of the typical, glaring problems in a SLAPP suit brought against a blogger (although the legal details would obviously differ if that suit had been filed in California). The lawsuit sounds like a true SLAPP — completely lacking legal merit and brought solely in an effort to inflict the costs of litigation and harass the...
read moreStages of a SLAPP Suit
If you aren’t a lawyer, you may have figured out that the lawsuit filed against you is a SLAPP, but you probably don’t know how a SLAPP suit works and what the procedural stages of the lawsuit are. This post is intended to help you understand what to expect as the defendant in a SLAPP. (And if you aren’t sure whether the lawsuit filed against you is a SLAPP, please read this first or contact CASP.) Here’s how the suit will probably go, step by step: 1. Demand letter — Often, a SLAPP filer or his/her...
read moreU.K. to Enact Libel Reform Law
Story here and here. Kudos to the Index on Censorship for leading the Libel Reform Campaign. Britain’s archaic libel laws (not officially reformed since 1843!) have long been exploited by those seeking to chill the free speech rights of their targets or cash in on a jurisdiction known for both low legal standards for defamation, and large jury verdicts. This recently led the U.S. to enact the SPEECH Act, which bans domestication of foreign judgments based on speech that would not have been defamatory under U.S. law; enactment of this...
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