Fighting SLAPPs, Protecting the First Amendment
Kudos to TechDirt for catching this rather amazing SLAPP in which a judge, of all people, decided to sue a newspaper for publishing an editorial about a lawsuit the newspaper lost in a case presided over by that very judge. … Read the rest
(See edits to the original post at the end of this page.)
In the past week or so, an online brouhaha has swelled in response to the Arizona legislature’s passage of a bill that would criminalize any “harassing” and “obscene” … Read the rest
Earlier this week, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in the case of Rehberg v. Palk upholding absolute immunity for witnesses at federal grand jury proceedings. This was a major win for those of us who believe in … Read the rest
The relationship between the First Amendment’s protections for free speech and the common law’s tort remedies for victims of defamatory or otherwise damaging statements has always been a complex one. As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan pointed out before … Read the rest
This was originally published several weeks ago, but in case you missed it, Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com had a wonderful exposé on the SLAPP tactics used by billionaire Romney SuperPAC donor and campaign finance co-chair Frank VanderSloot. (Greenwald’s article here… Read the rest
Practicing law and litigating cases on a day-to-day basis, you often lose sight of big-picture, foundational legal questions. In First Amendment law, however, it is important never to stray too far from these bigger questions, lest they come back to … Read the rest
A group of Hollywood actors has filed suit against the film actors’ labor union in an attempt to prevent what they view as an unfair and hasty merger with another union for performance artists. After considering it for decades, the … Read the rest
Very interesting new (unpublished) opinion from the First Appellate District with significant implications for lawyer advertising and client solicitation, especially with regard to Internet and other mass media solicitation. Check out Kate Moser’s analysis on Law.com: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202540890419&slreturn=1. The opinion … Read the rest
Last week, Jay Leno joked on his television show that the Golden Temple of Armritsar in India, a holy site to the Sikh religion, was the summer home of wealthy presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The joke caused a bit of … Read the rest
Paul Clifford, attorney at the California Anti-SLAPP Project, was quoted in a Businessweek article today discussing the California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s $1 billion lawsuit over Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s Investors Service Inc. ratings of structured investment vehicles.
The … Read the rest