Legislative Memo: Strengthening New York’s Anti-SLAPP Statute

SLAPPs are frivolous lawsuits intended to punish First Amendment-protected speech. New York has laws that allow courts to quickly dismiss SLAPPs, but it’s narrow and out-of-date, applying only in the context of government permitting and licensing. It offers nothing to journalists, whistleblowers, authors, publishers, artists, critics, and commentators who nowadays suffer litigation as the price of telling the truth. 

The New York Civil Liberties Union strongly supports A.5991-A (Weinstein) / S.52-A (Hoylman), which would make New York’s anti-SLAPP law applicable to any lawsuit arising out of First Amendment-protected communication on issues of public concern.