HARRISBURG — Pennsylvanians have new protections against lawsuits meant to silence public expression under a bill Gov. Josh Shapiro signed into law this week.
Strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) are often filed against people or groups who criticize corporations or governments. The person or entity behind a SLAPP suit can cite defamation or privacy violations as their reason for suing, even if their real goal is intimidation or draining the defendant’s funds with legal fees.
Previously, Pennsylvania’s anti-SLAPP law only safeguarded free speech on environmental issues. The new measure, introduced by state Rep. Ryan Bizzarro (D., Erie), expands protections to all First Amendment expression, allows defendants to file an anti-SLAPP motion early in the case, and mandates compensation to parties forced to fight suits deemed frivolous.
“These SLAPP suits weaponize the system to penalize protest and silence free speech,” Bizzarro told Spotlight PA.
The law also meets standards created by the nonpartisan Uniform Law Commission, which drafted model language to encourage consistency in anti-SLAPP legislation around the country. As of mid-July, eight other states had adopted the same language. This uniformity will help curb "litigation tourism," when a plaintiff chooses to sue in a state with loose SLAPP protections, according to the ULC.
At least 34 states offer some protections from SLAPP lawsuits, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, but exactly what is protected varies by state. Last year, Pennsylvania received a D- in the Institute for Free Speech’s anti-SLAPP report card because state law at the time was so narrow.
Efforts to expand Pennsylvania’s narrow anti-SLAPP rules began more than a decade ago. Former state Sen. Larry Farnese (D., Philadelphia) first introduced legislation in 2013 and continued to do so until losing reelection in 2020.
Bizzarro said “interests” with a large presence in the Capitol were able to keep these bills from becoming law.
The Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry has been a critic of expanding the law, expressing concerns in past years that new protections would be weaponized to fight development. It appears to have successfully pushed to amend Bizzarro’s bill.
Megan Martin, the group’s general counsel, asked the state Senate in a July 3 letter to ensure the bill would not apply retroactively. (Martin was the body’s secretary-parliamentarian for many years.) Lawmakers adopted such an amendment the same day.
Still, a broad coalition of groups from across the political spectrum supported the legislation.
“When you're having the ACLU and you’re having Americans for Prosperity … coming together on something, that usually never happens,” Bizzarro said, referring to support from the prominent civil liberties nonprofit and the Koch-affiliated political organization. State chapters of those organizations were part of Speak Free PA, which pushed for the measure’s passage.
Liz Randol, legislative director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said SLAPP lawsuits have been used to hurt stakeholders in “a very bipartisan way.”
SLAPP suits have been around for centuries, with citizens being sued by the government for calling out corruption in the 19th century, long before the term was coined by University of Denver professors in the 1980s. The absence of anti-SLAPP laws in many states meant the acronym was rarely used in court, according to Randol.
“I think there are a lot of people who don’t realize that what’s happening to them is in fact a SLAPP suit,” Randol said. “They just figure a big industry fill-in-the-blank is making their lives hell.”
There have been a number of prominent SLAPP suits in recent years. Last Week Tonight’s John Oliver put a national spotlight on the issue after he was the subject of a defamation suit by coal executive Robert Murray, whom he dubbed a “a geriatric Dr. Evil.”
The Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas was the first court in Pennsylvania “to recognize a case as a SLAPP lawsuit,” according to the Penn State Environmental Law Review. In the early 1990s, the court found an asphalt business had sued a citizen group as a retaliatory measure.
Farnese’s original legislation was inspired by the dissolution of the Old City Civic Association, a Philadelphia neighborhood group that fought to scale back new development projects. The organization faced several expensive lawsuits from developers. Despite not being held liable in any of the suits, the association was dropped by its directors and officers insurance company in 2013 because of the litigation and couldn’t afford a more expensive replacement.
“This prohibits things like that from happening. It’s for people going to bat for their communities and taking on special interests,” Bizzarro said. “They can no longer silence them through expensive court cases.”
Sarah Nicell is an intern with the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association. Learn more about the program. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.
