Haynes Boone Partner Laura Prather spoke with OK! Magazine following a recent dismissal in The Kennedy Center’s $1 million lawsuit against jazz drummer and vibes player Chuck Redd, ending a long legal battle.
Read an excerpt below:
Haynes Boone Partner Laura Prather, chair of the firm’s Media Law Practice Group and a leading voice on anti-SLAPP law, said the ruling shows why those protections matter.
“These laws are intended to weed out meritless cases that target the exercise of First Amendment rights,” she explained. “Here, Mr. Redd — who had no contract with the Kennedy Center — opted not to perform. For that choice, he was sued for breach of a nonexistent contract.”
The proposed settlement terms prohibiting “political commentary” further cemented the chilling nature of the lawsuit.
“The D.C. Anti-SLAPP law enabled the Court to ferret out this meritless case in just three months and award fees to Mr. Redd who should have never been sued in the first place,” added Prather, who was not involved in Redd’s case.
Read the full OK! Magazine article here.
