Inside Land-Use SLAPPs: The Continuing Fight to Speak Out

Abstract Penelope Canan and George Pring have spent 19 years investigating legal actions intended to intimidate citizens who speak out about government action. They coined the term by which such actions have since become known— “Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation,” or SLAPPs—and authored the principal resource about them: SLAPPs: Getting Sued for Speaking Out. This month, Canan and Chris Barker describe land-use SLAPPs from the perspective of their targets and address the extent to which state law does and can protect citizens against them. Canan will be presenting the session SLAPP-back Lawsuits as part of the Bettmann Symposium at this year's APA Conference.