Slapped down
Cuomo OKS bill fighting “baseless” legal actions
Cuomo signs into law a bill designed to eliminate frivolous lawsuits./
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday signed into law a bill designed to eliminate frivolous lawsuits intended to silence or impose economic pain on whistleblowers, journalists and activists.
Such legal actions are known as “strategic lawsuits against public participation” or SLAPP suits. They are “essentially baseless lawsuits more or less intended to siphon free speech by threatening plaintiffs,” said Sen. Brad Hoylman, D -Manhattan Democrat, the measure’s sponsor in that chamber. “The goal isn’t necessarily to win a case on the merits, but to intimidate or harass or maybe even bankrupt the defendants into silence.”
SLAPP lawsuits are used frequently by developers or people with personal wealth who want to quash public criticism, he said. They were a frequent tactic of President Donald J. Trump during his years as a highprofile Manhattan developer.
“Trump has never met a lawsuit he doesn’t like, apparently. Never met a lawsuit that he doesn’t want to file. It’s definitely risen in the public consciousness as you see in his MO and the MO of ... Harvey Weinstein and others,” Hoylman said, alluding to the former movie producer brought low three years ago after decades of preying on women in the industry.
The purpose of the legislation, which passed both chambers overwhelmingly, is to “make the plaintiff have some skin in the game,” the senator said.
The law creates a legal procedure early in the process to sort between good- and badfaith lawsuits. It automatically awards legal fees to defendants if a judge finds that a plaintiff has brought a SLAPP lawsuit against them.
An existing anti- SLAPP law on the books in New York is far more narrow than those of other states — particularly California, whose law is the model for New York’s improved statute. New York’s old law was limited as to who and under what circumstance it applies, and didn’t require that lawyers fees be awarded to the targets of SLAPP lawsuits.
“It seems so obviously important to everyone — but particularly New York,” said Nadine Strossen, former head of the American Civil Liberties Union.
The state’s status as the media capitol of the United States makes it all the more important that plaintiffs with legitimate claims aren’t boxed out of the process by anti- SLAPP laws, she said.
When SLAPP lawsuits are allowed to proceed unimpeded, Strossen said, it can create a “chilling ” effect on free speech, which hurts not just the activists, whistleblowers or journalists who are often the targets of these suits, but also the general public that suffers from those voices being silenced.
The bill was supported by the free speech groups such as the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, as well as the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York.
In a statement, Cuomo said the new law “protects New Yorkers’ fundamental right to free speech without fear of harassment or bullying by those who happen to have more money than they do.”