(The Center Square) – Illinois lawmakers are considering legislation that supporters say aims at enhancing protections for freedom of speech and freedom of the press, but some legislators have expressed concern that the current proposal goes too far.
The Illinois House Judiciary Committee passed House Bill 1077, which is intended to reign in SLAPP, Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation.
State Rep. Daniel Didech, D-Buffalo Grove, the bill’s sponsor, said current law, the Citizen Participation Act, has been rendered almost toothless by judicial decisions.
“Courts have interpreted the Citizen Participation Act to only protect against a narrow category of lawsuits that are solely based on the defendant’s protected acts. The Illinois Supreme Court has also ruled that the act’s protections do not extend whatsoever to the press, which I believe is the first time in our country’s history that a high court has held that the press has fewer free speech rights than an ordinary citizen,” Didech said.
The bill, which would create the Uniform Public Expression Act, passed out of committee by a 12 to 7 vote on Wednesday. State Reps. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz, D-Glenview, and Tracy Katz Muhl, D-Northbrook, joined as co-sponsors of the legislation.
Didech said the bill, if passed, would take effect immediately. He said lawsuits filed before the effective date would continue to be subject to current law. Lawsuits filed after the effective date would be subject to the new law.
Kaitlyn Wolf of the Uniform Law Commission said the bill would modernize Illinois’ anti-SLAPP statute.
“It would deter the filing of SLAPPs in the first place and provide an efficient mechanism for dealing with them when they do pop up in the court system,” Wolf said.
Wolf said the bill’s language has been passed into law in 10 states and is pending in 10 others.
“It’s been a bipartisan effort in basically every state that we’ve pursued this legislation in,” Wolf added.
Proponents of the bill include the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, the Better Government Association, the Illinois Press Association and the Illinois State Bar Association.
“We believe this bill is vitally important to maintain a vibrant free press in Illinois,” said David Manning of the Illinois Press Association.
State Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, warned that the bill could have “a chilling effect” if it became law. He disagreed with the required 60-day window for filing a lawsuit and said Didech’s bill goes too far.
“I’m very much for free speech and I don’t want to hinder it at all, but I also believe the press has a responsibility to be accurate,” Ugaste said.
Ugaste said the measure would allow for sloppy reporting and inaccurate statements in the public arena. He also expressed concerns about attorneys fees for people who believe they have been slandered.
“In campaigns, I’ve had people outright lie about me. I didn’t sue them because they have far more resources than I do. It’s not a fun thing,” Ugaste said.
