Federal Anti-SLAPP Law Introduced
from the make-it-so dept
This effort has been underway for some time, but it's great to see that a federal Anti-SLAPP law has finally been introduced. If you're unfamiliar with this, a little over half of the states in the US have their own anti-SLAPP laws, which help those who have been sued solely to shut them up. SLAPP, of course, stands for "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation," and it's used to describe bogus lawsuits that are solely designed to tie up someone who can't afford it in court -- thus often making them stop whatever activity (or speech) annoyed whoever sued them, rather than go through the process of fighting the bogus lawsuit in court. Anti-SLAPP laws let those sued in this manner to quickly fight back and get the bogus lawsuits dismissed. The problem, of course, is that right now it's a mishmash of state laws (or no laws at all), meaning that these sorts of bogus lawsuits are still brought all the time. A group of folks have been working for quite some time on putting together plans for a federal anti-SLAPP law, and Rep. Steve Cohen has finally introduced it -- with the key feature being that those sued can recover fees, which makes it much more likely that they can get lawyers who will defend them (on a contingency basis) to get the bogus lawsuits tossed out. I have no idea the likelihood of this particular proposal getting anywhere, but as someone who has been threatened with bogus lawsuits way too often, it would be nice to know the protections I have expand beyond California (which already has a pretty good anti-SLAPP law).Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: anti-slapp, federal anti-slapp law, regulations
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OK
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At the end of the session?
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Re: At the end of the session?
but that doesn't really seem to fit here, does it?
who gains what from what? always an interesting question.
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Re: At the end of the session?
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Re: At the end of the session? No
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Constitutionality problem?
So, I ask you, how is a federal anti-SLAPP law constitutional? Under what power can Congress enact such a law?
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Re: Constitutionality problem?
Public opinion would mostly likely be for this as this would be hard to twist into something that seems bad. "Yea, if the lawsuit was bogus they should get their money back." Sounds like a no brainier.
Courts would probably welcome it as it would at least decrease some bogus lawsuits.
You are probably right, it is unconstitutional. But the only people that are going to fight that is mega corps and lawyer bullies against the judges who are bored out of their minds with cases as it is and an American public that won't get behind them.
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Re: Constitutionality problem?
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Re: Re: Constitutionality problem?
Really? I take it you think you know better? If you are so damn knowledgeable, perhaps YOU could provide us with an explanation as to how this federal anti-SLAPP bill would be a constitutional exercise of legislative power. And feel free to explain how it would not run afoul of United States v. Lopez and United States v. Morrison. I'll be waiting.
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You Forget Something - Re: Unconstitutional
Now, I would agree with you if it applied to state courts, but as long as it only applies to federal courts, then it is perfectly legal and constitutional for them to do so.
Now I have not read the proposed law, so I am not sure what it exactly says. The constitutionality of it would depend on who and where it applies to.
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