SPEAK FREE Act of 2015

The SPEAK FREE Act of 2015 (H.R. 2304) is a bipartisan Act of Congress that was introduced on May 13, 2015, designed to serve as federal anti-SLAPP legislation, to protect free speech in practice. Its title is an acronym (S.P.E.A.K. F.R.E.E.) that stands for "Securing Participation, Engagement, and Knowledge Freedom by Reducing Egregious Efforts Act of 2015".[1]

SPEAK FREE Act
Other short titlesSecuring Participation, Engagement, and Knowledge Freedom by Reducing Egregious Efforts Act of 2015
Long titleTo amend title 28, United States Code, to create a special motion to dismiss strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP suits).
NicknamesSpeak Free Act
Codification
Titles amended28
U.S.C. sections amended182 USC §4201, 182 USC §4202, 182 USC §4203, 182 USC §4204, 182 USC §4205, 182 USC §4206, 182 USC §4207, 182 USC §4208
Legislative history

Details

The Bill was designed to prevent SLAPP lawsuits (strategic lawsuit against public participation), which are often brought to silence critics.[2][3] SLAPP suits are used as legal retaliation,[4] by burdening them with the costs of a legal defense, until they abandon their criticism.[2][3][5]

Background

In response to several notable SLAPP abuses in recent times, United States Representative Blake Farenthold (R-TX),[6] along with 20 Democrat and 11 Republican co-sponsors,[7] introduced the SPEAK FREE Act to dismiss lawsuits which are used to harass plaintiffs.[8] The SPEAK FREE Act was formed by observing what has been shown to work, after being previously implemented in over twenty States where anti-SLAPP legislation had already been tested.[9]

With the looming prospect that Donald Trump might become President, Congress decided to address the SPEAK FREE Act, with the Bill's sponsor, Rep. Farenthold (R), stating, "Obama will sign this. I don’t think Trump will."[10][11][12]

Judiciary hearing

On June 22, 2016, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Bill. Witnesses who gave testimony included Aaron Schur (Senior Director of Litigation of Yelp), Bruce Brown (Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press), Alexander A. Reinert (Professor of Law at Cardozo), and Laura Prather (partner of Haynes and Boone, LLP).[13][14][15]

Response

The Bill was praised for its bipartisan support in protecting free speech by the Public Participation Project,[16] the Electronic Frontier Foundation,[16][17] and Yelp,[16][18] among others, as the Bill is also geared toward protecting online criticism.[18][19]

See also

References
  1. "SPEAK FREE Act of 2015". United States Congress.
  2. Mascagni, Evan. "SPEAK FREE Act, Strengthening First Amendment Rights, Introduced With Bi-Partisan Co-Sponsors In The House". Public Participation Project (Anti-SLAPP.org).
  3. Elliott, Christopher (8 December 2016). "Proposed legislation could protect online reviewers from retaliatory suits". Washington Post.
  4. Shapiro, Gary (27 November 2015). "How anti-SLAPP laws protect free speech". The Hill.
  5. Rafsanjani, Nazanin (April 2, 2010). "SLAPP Back: Transcript". On the Media.
  6. "SPEAK FREE Act of 2015" (PDF). United States House of Representatives.
  7. "Cosponsors: H.R.2304 — 114th Congress (2015-2016)". United States Congress.
  8. Masnick, Mike (13 May 2015). "This Is Important: Federal Anti-SLAPP Legislation Introduced". TechDirt.
  9. Godwin, Mike (12 September 2016). "Congress' new opportunity to protect free speech: Voting to pass SPEAK FREE". The Hill.
  10. Scola, Nancy (1 June 2016). "Online speech backers' newest fear: Trump". Politico.
  11. Levitz, Eric. "House Republicans Hope to Pass This Bill Before Donald Trump Takes Office". New York.
  12. Shepard, Jason M. "What effect could Donald Trump have on libel laws?". California Newspaper Publishers Association.
  13. "Examining H.R. 2304, the SPEAK FREE Act". House of Representatives Judiciary Committee.
  14. Sadurni, Luis Ferre (23 June 2016). "Federal anti-SLAPP bill is focus of House hearing". Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
  15. Williams-Alvarez, Jennifer (26 September 2016). "Yelp Attorney: Your Right to Post Bad Reviews Is at Risk". Corporate Counsel.
  16. "Open Letter Support for the SPEAK FREE Act" (PDF). Public Participation Project (Anti-SLAPP.org).
  17. Cope, Sophia (21 May 2015). "Federal Anti-SLAPP Bill Introduced in the House". Electronic Frontier Foundation.
  18. Harkinson, Josh (20 July 2015). "Yelp Is Pushing a Law to Shield Its Reviewers From Defamation Suits". Mother Jones.
  19. Eggerton, John (13 May 2015). "SPEAK FREE Act Introduced To Protect Online Criticism". Broadcasting & Cable.
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