Archive for July 2010
Anti-SLAPP Statutes and Section 1983 (Updated)
Some Questions
What is a SLAPP lawsuit? What is an anti-SLAPP statute? And what, if anything, does section 1983 have to do with anti-SLAPP statutes?
Some Answers
1. A SLAPP (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) lawsuit is one that is filed to chill the exercise of a defendant’s First Amendment rights in order “to obtain a financial advantage over one’s adversary by increasing litigation costs until the adversary’s case is weakened or abandoned.” John v. Douglas County School Dist., 219 P.3d 1276, 1280 (Nev. 2009).
2. Nevada enacted an anti-SLAPP statute whose primary purpose was to protect the right to petition government for redress of grievances. The Nevada statute, modeled on California’s anti-SLAPP statute, provided that when a plaintiff brings an action “against a person based on a good faith communication in furtherance of the right to petition,” the defendant may file a special motion to dismiss which is treated procedurally as a motion for summary judgment so that the trial court can dismiss only if there are no genuine issues of material fact in dispute. Also, the moving party bears the initial burden of production and persuasion.
3. May state courts apply such an anti-SLAPP statute to a section 1983 claim despite possible preemption under the Supremacy Clause? According to the Nevada Supreme Court in John, the answer is yes. Read the rest of this entry »
All My Posts Through July 7, 2010
Since Nahmodlaw.com began in August 2009, and to this date, July 7, 2010, I have written thirty-four posts (including a video and podcast) on what I consider to be topics of interest and importance going beyond what might be considered “hot” at any particular time.
It occurs to me that it would be useful to readers, especially those who have only recently discovered this blog, to have a list of the thirty-four linked posts by category for ease of reference and use.
(It is also possible to use the “search” function to look for particular cases or topics among every one of my posts, including those subsequent to July 7, 2010).
What follows is a list comprising these thirty-four posts divided into the following four categories:
SECTION 1983; CONSTITUTIONAL LAW; FIRST AMENDMENT; EDUCATION
I. SECTION 1983
Section 1983 Supreme Court Decisions–2009: A Video Presentation
A Section 1983 Podcast: Damages and Procedural Defenses
A Section 1983 Primer (1): History, Purposes and Scope
A Section 1983 Primer (2): The Seminal Decision of Monroe v. Pape
A Section 1983 Primer (3): Constitutional States of Mind
A Section 1983 Primer (4): Causation and the Mt. Healthy Burden-Shift Rule
Iqbal and Section 1983 Supervisory Liability
My Position on Supervisory Liability after Iqbal
Van De Kamp and the Shift in Prosecutorial Immunity
Haywood v. Drown: Close Call for the Supremacy Clause?
Rethinking Section 1983 Malicious Prosecution
Qualified Immunity “Order of Battle” Modified
Preempting Section 1983 Constitutional Claims: Fitzgerald v. Barnstable School Comm.
Prosecutorial Immunity Revisited: The Pottawattamie County Case (UPDATED)
Justice Stevens and Section 1983
Purdue v. Kenny A.: A New Supreme Court Attorney’s Fees Decision
Certiorari Granted in Skinner v. Switzer: Section 1983, Habeas and Heck
Nahmod Law 