The Need for a Federal Anti-SLAPP Law
Lawsuits aimed at censoring constitutionally protected speech are a metastasizing scourge1 that many courts have proven themselves ill-equipped to handle. Known as Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or “SLAPP suits” for short, these routine abuses of the legal process pose a constant threat to the First Amendment and undermine free expression in every U.S. jurisdiction. Given inadequate anti-SLAPP protections in many states and the ease with which even the best states’ anti-SLAPP statutes can be circumvented, a federal anti-SLAPP law is essential to defend against efforts to chill constitutionally protected speech through baseless litigation.
