The Daily Caller quoted Haynes and Boone, LLP Partner Laura Prather in an opinion column arguing for a federal anti-SLAPP law.
Prather, a leading First Amendment lawyer, was instrumental in enacting the Texas Citizens Participation Act, an anti-SLAPP law designed to protect against lawsuits that aim to silence the exercise of free speech and other constitutional rights. She also is advising the Uniform Law Commission in drafting a uniform Anti-SLAPP Act that can serve as a model for states that haven’t already adopted their own statutes.
The Daily Caller column by media consultant Charles Glasser said that, while 28 states have laws to curb Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP), a federal law is needed.
The column said: Attorney Laura Lee Prather, head of the Media Law Practice Group at Texas-based law firm Haynes and Boone has written extensively about the effects of SLAPP cases, and says that “anti-SLAPP laws are critical to preserving our democracy. A single meritless lawsuit, if allowed to drag on for years, can financially cripple and effectively silence voices that oftentimes are exposing wrongdoing. Most small publishers and bloggers simply don’t have the resources to fight, but anti-SLAPP laws level the playing field by ensuring the viability of the case is tested at the beginning and the publisher is made whole if the claim has no merit.” ...
Excerpted from The Daily Caller. To read the full article, click here.