To amend title 28, United States Code, to establish a procedure to dismiss and deter strategic lawsuits against public participation, and for other purposes.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill adds a new chapter to federal law creating a special motion to dismiss for cases that are strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs). It allows people who are sued for exercising their constitutional rights of free speech, assembly, or petition on matters of public concern to quickly seek dismissal of the case and recover their legal fees.
Who Benefits and How
Journalists, activists, whistleblowers, and ordinary citizens who speak out on public issues would gain a powerful tool to quickly end meritless lawsuits designed to silence them. Media organizations and publishers receive extra protections. Successful defendants would presumptively recover attorney fees and costs.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Plaintiffs filing potentially meritless lawsuits to silence critics would face quicker dismissal and may be required to pay the defendant's legal costs. However, the bill includes carve-outs protecting legitimate claims by employees, whistleblowers, government entities, and commercial disputes. Plaintiffs with legitimate claims must meet a higher initial bar to survive a SLAPP motion.
Key Provisions
- Creates a special motion to dismiss SLAPPs that must be filed within 60 days and ruled on within 90 days
- Stays all discovery and proceedings while the motion is pending
- Creates a rebuttable presumption that prevailing defendants recover attorney fees
- Exempts employment disputes, whistleblower claims, government actions, securities cases, and wrongful death claims
- Provides extra protection for journalists, publishers, and artistic works
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Creates a federal procedure allowing defendants to quickly dismiss strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) in federal court, with fee-shifting to deter meritless lawsuits intended to silence speech on matters of public concern.
Key Policy Areas
Civil Rights, Judicial Reform
Primary Purpose
Creates a federal procedure allowing defendants to quickly dismiss strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) in federal court, with fee-shifting to deter meritless lawsuits intended to silence speech on matters of public concern.
Policy Domains
Whole Bill
Identified Gains
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Journalists and media organizations
- Activists and citizens exercising free speech
- Defendants facing meritless speech-suppressing lawsuits
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Identified Costs
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation- Plaintiffs who file SLAPP lawsuits
- Plaintiffs with legitimate claims who must meet initial evidentiary threshold
Contextual inference, no direct clause citation
Sponsors
Jamie Raskin
D-MD | Primary Sponsor
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Raskin (for himself and Mr. Kiley) introduced the following …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Defendants in SLAPP lawsuits, Defendants in frivolous SLAPP lawsuits, Public speakers and advocates on matters of public concern
Media organizations and journalists, Media organizations and news publishers, Media organizations and nonprofit publishers
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The use of the court system to silence or intimidate a party who is engaged in the constitutional exercise of speech, petition, assembly, or association rights, by subjecting that party to meritless litigation.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology