Legal Definitions - SLAPP

SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.

A SLAPP is a lawsuit filed primarily to intimidate, silence, or burden individuals or groups who are exercising their right to free speech and public participation on matters of public interest. These lawsuits are often brought by powerful entities, such as corporations, developers, or government officials, against activists, community organizations, journalists, or ordinary citizens who voice criticism, protest, or take an adverse position on an issue. The goal of a SLAPP is often not to win the case on its legal merits, but rather to exhaust the defendant's financial resources and emotional energy through costly litigation, thereby discouraging their public involvement and criticism.

Here are some examples to illustrate how a SLAPP might occur:

• Community Environmental Activism: A local neighborhood association organizes a public campaign to oppose a large real estate developer's plan to build a new shopping mall on a wetland area, citing environmental concerns and increased traffic. They create a website, distribute flyers, and speak at city council meetings. In response, the developer sues the association's president and several key members for defamation, claiming that their statements about environmental damage are false and have harmed the developer's reputation and business prospects. This could be considered a SLAPP because the lawsuit targets citizens' efforts to participate in a public debate about a development project, with the potential aim of silencing their opposition through legal pressure rather than genuinely seeking to prove defamation.

• Consumer Advocacy: A consumer advocacy group publishes an investigative report detailing alleged safety flaws in a popular line of household appliances manufactured by a major corporation. The report gains significant media attention and prompts a public discussion about product safety. The corporation then files a lawsuit against the advocacy group and its lead researcher, alleging trade libel and interference with business relations, demanding millions in damages. This situation could be a SLAPP if the corporation's primary intent is to intimidate the group and prevent further scrutiny of its products, rather than to legitimately litigate the truthfulness of the report's claims.

• Criticism of Public Officials: A citizen creates a widely shared social media page where they frequently post critical comments and share public records questioning the spending decisions and transparency of their city's mayor and city council. The mayor, in their official capacity, directs the city attorney to file a lawsuit against the citizen, alleging harassment and misuse of public information, seeking to have the social media page taken down and demanding a public apology. This scenario would likely be considered a SLAPP because it involves a public official using legal action to suppress a citizen's criticism and free speech regarding government conduct, which is a matter of clear public interest.