See full story: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Senator-s-defamation-suit-can-proceed-3616726.php

The article reports that Jones is planning to appeal the denial of the Anti-SLAPP motion.

Senator Jeff Wentworth (R-San Antonio) who is running for re-election, is being challenged in the Republican primary by Elizabeth Ames Jones.  Sen. Wentworth sued Jones on Thursday, alleging libel and slander for media advertisements that claim Wentworth engaged in “double-dipping” for certain reimbursements. See Pl. Original Petition, Wentworth v. Jones, No. 2012-CI-08201 (73rd Dist. Ct., Bexar County, Tex. , filed May 17, 2012).

On Friday, Jones filed an answer, asserting the defense of truth and noting that she will be filing an Anti-SLAPP motion in the coming days.

It will be interesting to see if this lawsuit survives the end of the election, but if it does, this is definitely one that is being followed in the media.  There are a couple of interesting political twists to this story. As Jones notes in her Answer, Sen. Wentworth voted in favor of the Anti-SLAPP law that Jones is planning on making use of (the bill was passed unanimously in both chambers). Further, Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR) is one of Jones’ largest donors, according to the San Antonio Express-News. TLR was a member of the coalition that supported the passage of the bill. So both are politically connected to the law. Pass the popcorn!

Resources:

Wentworth’s Suit

Jones’ Answer

Record of Senate Vote on HB 2973 (see page 2532)

Attorney David O’Dens filed an Anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss in Dallas County and the motion was granted in March. After a hearing on attorneys fees and sanctions, the judge awarded over $15,000 in attorneys’ fees and $15,000 in sanctions, “which the court determines is sufficient to prevent Plaintiff, American Heritage Capital, LP, from bringing actions similar to this action.”

American Heritage Capital had sued Dinah Gonzalez, and later Alan Gonzalez, for defamation after Mr. Gonzalez posted comments online about a negative experience he had with the online mortgage lender. SLAPP suits over online speech are commonly called “Cyber-SLAPPs.” O’Den’s law firm posted a summary of the case on their website.

The language of the statute provides that the court shall award court costs, expenses, attorneys fees, and “sanctions against the party who brought the legal action as the court determines sufficient to deter the party who brought the legal action from bringing similar actions described in this chapter.” See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 27.009(2). The use of the wording “shall” imposes a duty on the judge under the Code Construction Act.

Washington State’s anti-SLAPP law provides for mandatory sanctions as well and statutorily mandates that the sanctions should be at least $10,000. See Wash. Rev. Code 4.24.525.

See the final judgment here. See a post by Eric Goldman here. The case is American Heritage Capital, LP v. Dinah Gonzalez and Alan Gonzalez (No. DC-11-13741-C) (filed October 27, 2011).

Dr. Andrew J. Wakefield, MB., BS., FRCS, v. The British Medical Journal, a d/b/a of BMJ Publishing Group Ltd., also d/b/a BMJ Group, and BMJ, Brian Deer, Individually, and Dr. Fiona Godlee, Individually, Cause No. D-1-GN-12-000003, 250th Judicial District, Travis County, Texas).

What appears to be the third lawsuit filed in Austin in 2012 is also one of the most high-profile anti-SLAPP cases to hit Texas yet. Andrew Wakefield is a doctor from the U.K. who published a paper theorizing that vaccines caused autism. This led to widespread panic among parents and the defendant, Brian Deer, wrote a series of articles in the British Medical Journal, calling Wakefields study into question. Wakefield’s study was retracted by the original journal that published it, the Lancet. Wakefield sued Deer in Austin, Texas for defamation, and Deer, in addition to filing a special appearance challenging jurisdiction, has filed an anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss. Because of the drama surrounding the debate over vaccine safety (some supporters of Wakefield apparently see this as a re-test of the validity of the study) Wakefield’s fall from grace and Deer’s expose, there is a good deal of attention swirling around this lawsuit and the anti-SLAPP law.

Wallbuilder Presentations, Inc. through its President, David Barton and Wallbuilders, L.L.C. through its President, David Barton and David Barton, individually v. W.S. Smith and Judy A. Jennings and Rebecca E. Bell-Metereau, Cause No. CV-11-1349 (415^th Judicial District, Parker County, Tex., filed Nov. 7, 2011)

In this case, David Barton, a former Vice Chairman of the Texas Republican Party,  filed defamation suits against Jennings and Bell-Metereau, former candidates for the State Board of Education, and writer for Examiner.com W.S. Smith. The lawsuit against Jennings and Bell-Metereau reportedly is based on a campaign video, and the Smith claim is reportedly based on an article he wrote. The defendants filed an anti-SLAPP motion but it was denied without explanation by a Parker County judge. An appeal is currently pending in the Fort Worth Court of Appeals. This case is of special interest because it could lead to the first appellate ruling interpreting the law- which will be important to all future anti-SLAPP cases.

If you are aware of an anti-SLAPP case that we should be following, please email me: alicia@calzadalegal.com

The lawsuit, filed by night club owner David Cooper against the Cielo Vista neighborhood association, the City of El Paso and several individual defendants (a total of 12 defendants) alleged defamation and tortuous interference. The neighborhood association and several neighbors had spoken out against Cooper’s plans to bring a nightclub into the area and the City of El Paso supported the neighbors. The association also protested a liquor license application. KFOX Channel 14 posted a story about the lawsuit on its website.

Defendants filed several motions to dismiss on various grounds, including based on the Texas Citizens Participation Act, Texas’ new anti-SLAPP law. As one of the motions stated, “CVNA is being sued for encouraging its City Representatives to act!”

Defendant Irene Borunda said, “All that the neighbors and the association did was to file a protest against his liquor license.” Borunda said that the Plaintiff was seen on television expressly stating that the defendants should learn their lesson and not protest his liquor license. Borunda expressed gratitude for Judge Briones’ decision.

In a two-page order granting several motions to dismiss, one of which had included anti-SLAPP arguments, Senior U.S. District Judge David Briones issued an order Tuesday finding that “the Plaintiff’s claims are frivolous, without merit, and made only to stifle opposition and quiet the neighborhood.” The court also wrote that it would “give strong consideration to any motions for attorneys’ fees the Parties may file.” Monaco Entertainment Group, LLC and David Cooper v. City of El Paso, et. al., 3:11-cv-00561-DB (W.D.Tex-El Paso, order issued April 3, 2012). Attorneys fees are mandatory under the statute. According to the order, a memorandum opinion is forthcoming and we will post when it is available.

A related state law case was also dismissed recently under the Anti-SLAPP law. See Three Legged Monkey, et., al vs. Irene Borunda, Robert Borunda, John Billingslea, Anna Nazario, John Cook, Case No. 2012-DCV00099 (327^th District Court, El Paso County, Tex., filed 1/3/2012).

First Amendment attorney Laura Prather, who drafted the statute and led a coalition to support its passage in the state legislature last year, and who has recently argued and won multiple anti-SLAPP motions in Texas state courts, said the ruling was “a win for all Texans. This precedent will pave the way for others sued in federal court to be able to get early dismissals under the anti-SLAPP statute.”

In an amended complaint filed in February, the Plaintiffs had argued that the anti-SLAPP law is unconstitutional because it deprives them of the right to file a lawsuit that the court has clearly found to be frivolous, and that it deprived them of the right to have their frivolous lawsuit heard by a jury. Similar arguments that anti-SLAPP laws are unconstitutional have been widely rejected by state appellate courts across the country. The plaintiffs also asserted that the law should not apply to this suit because some of the actions in the lawsuit took place before the effective date of the Act. However, the Citizens’ Participation Act clearly states that the act applies to lawsuits that are filed after June 17, 2012, regardless of when the complained-of acts occurred. See 2011 Tex. Sess. Law Serv. Ch. 341, Sec. 3-4 (H.B. 2973) (West).

There is a split among federal courts in applying state anti-SLAPP laws. Several jurisdictions, including California, have applied state anti-SLAPP laws to state claims brought in federal court but not all jurisdictions have followed suit. Recently federal courts in the District of Columbia declined to apply D.C’s new anti-SLAPP law.  Conditions are favorable for using the law in Texas federal courts for two reasons—first, the language of the Texas statute is similar to California’s thus providing ample precedent, and second the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is precedential in Texas, has already upheld application of Louisiana’s Anti-SLAPP law in federal court. Courts general decide whether or not to apply state anti-SLAPP laws to federal cases based on the Erie doctrine, and whether or not the state law is determined to be substantive or procedural.

At least one other anti-SLAPP motion is pending in a Texas federal court, in the case of Ward v. Rhode, No. 6:11-cv-00531 (Southern Dist. Tex., filed Oct. 7, 2011).

Click here to download the order granting the motions to dismiss.

The law was put to use almost immediately. By September there was already an Anti-SLAPP victory. Another followed in November and yet another in December. The 2011 dismissals under Section 27 are listed below:

• Dismissed September 6, 2011 by Judge Eric Moye in Dallas: Wholesale TV and Radio Advertising, LLC, v. Better Business Bureau of MNetropolitan Dallas, Inc., Cause No. 11-08382-A (14th Dist. Ct., Dallas County, Tex. Sept. 6, 2011). Attorneys fees were awarded. This case is currently on appeal before the Dallas Court of Appeals.

• Dismissed November 22, 2011 by Judge Patricia Kerrigan in Harris County: Viera v. Hearst Newspapers, LLC d/b/a The Houston Chronicle, KHOU-TV, Inc. and Post-Newsweek Stations Houston, Inc. d/b/a KPRC-TV, Cause No. 2011-42884 (190th Dist. Ct., Harris County, Tex. filed Sept. 16, 2011), order signed by Judge Patricia Kerrigan.

• Dismissed December 16, 2011 in Harris County: Yolanda Flores v. Houston Community College System, et. al., Cause No. 2011-49084 (61^st Judicial District, Harris County, Tex., filed November 11, 2011). $35,700 in attorneys fees were awarded in that case.

The Anti-SLAPP Motion to Dismiss was not granted in the following case:

• Motion to Dismiss denied on February 1, 2012 in Parker County, Texas by Judge Graham Quisenberry: Wallbuilder Presentations, Inc. through its President, David Barton and Wallbuilders, L.L.C. through its President, David Barton and David Barton, individually v. W.S. Smith and Judy A. Jennings and Rebecca E. Bell-Metereau, Cause No. CV-11-1349 (415^th Judicial District, Parker County, Tex., filed Nov. 7, 2011).

If you are aware of an Anti-SLAPP dismissal, or denial of a motion to dismiss, that is not listed above please email me.

Craig’s attorney has filed an Anti-SLAPP motion under Oregon’s anti-SLAPP laws in an effort to get the case dismissed.

Read more about the case and the way that the Anti-SLAPP law is being applied here:

http://www.oregonlive.com/tigard/index.ssf/2011/10/oregons_first_twitter_libel_la.html

Laura Prather, a First Amendment Attorney and the leader of the Coalition for the Texas Citizens Participation Act has written a great primer on the  Act, explaining the main points of the bill and the origins of the effort.

You can read the primer by following this link.

Texans who enjoy exercising their free speech owe a debt of gratitude to Laura Prather and Don Adams who partnered to move the bill through the legislative process, resulting in extraordinary support from both chambers.

Thank you to the many who supported the effort with their advice, time, energy, testimony, donations, and more, including Peter Kurdoch and Mark Goldowitz, who are fighting this same fight on a national level.

The complete text of the law, as passed by the 2011 Texas Legislature and signed into law on June 17, 2011, effective immediately, is available here.

I will continue to monitor the law and post updates here on cases that are affected by it.

As the kids say—Woot!