On July 22, 2020, both chambers of the New York Legislature passed an Anti-SLAPP bill that has been a long-time in the making. The votes were 116-26 in the Assembly and 58-2 in the Senate, and the bill now sits on the Governor’s desk waiting his signature.
Although New York has had an Anti-SLAPP statute on the books since 1992, that statute narrowly applies only in cases where the plaintiff is a “public applicant or permittee.”
With the passage of Bill No. A05991A/S00052-A (SOURCE) the existing statute will be amended in the following ways:
- Broaden the scope of applicability to “any communication in a place open to the public or a public form in connection with an issue of public interest” or “any other lawful conduct in furtherance of the exercise of the constitutional right of free speech in connection with an issue of public interest, or in furtherance of the exercise of the constitutional right of petition”
- Provide that “public interest” shall be construed broadly and shall mean any subject other than a purely private matter
- Stay discovery, including pending hearings and motions, upon filing of an Anti-SLAPP motion
- Provide a procedure for resolving the Anti-SLAPP motion which includes the Court’s consideration of supporting and opposing affidavits and a requirement that the court “grant preference in the hearing of such motion.”
And, as with all dispositive motions in New York, interlocutory appeals are freely permitted from denials of Anti-SLAPP motions.
