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One SLAPP Suit
Dismissed, Another Begins
September 9, 2004 - Press Release
DETROIT— The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan
announced today that a SLAPP suit (“Strategic Lawsuit Against Public
Participation”) against a Washtenaw
County woman has been dismissed while another against a
Washtenaw man has just begun.
The lawsuit
against Laurie Fromhart, a Bridgewater Township resident who had spoken out an a Department of
Environment Quality (DEQ) public meeting, has been dismissed. Ms. Fromhart
is concerned about the environmental impact on surrounding wetlands and
property owners and spoke in opposition to allowing the Sylvester Material
Co., Inc. (SMR), owner of a large quarry operation in Bridgewater Township to excavate an area large enough to create a 50-acre
lake.
"This type of
lawsuit is often filed to harass individuals, to try and prevent or punish
ordinary people from speaking up. While the lawsuit has now been
voluntarily dismissed and Ms. Fromhart is vindicated, the fact remains that
the mere filing of such lawsuits chills free speech and takes a terrible
toll on the individuals wrongly sued,” said Dan Quick, the ACLU
cooperating attorney who handled the case.
Upon hearing that
the case against her is finally over, Ms. Fromhart said, “Although I
am very pleased and relieved that the suit has been dismissed, I'm afraid
it will have a lasting effect on my ability to speak out.”
The SLAPP suit
against Ms. Fromhart, alleging slander and libel, was based on the comments
she made at the public hearings and letters she had written to public
officials. The strategic timing of the lawsuit appeared to have been a
blatant attempt to silence Ms. Fromhart from speaking out again on the new
application.
In a second case that the ACLU is
defending William Riney of Ypsilanti Township who is being sued by two former Ypsilanti officials, William Winters and T.R. Stumbo, for two
articles that appeared in Riney's newsletter called the "Liberty
News."
Bill Riney is an
environmental activist who sought the recall of these elected officials
when he was unsuccessful in defeating the building of a proposed
incinerator. There is reason to believe that the purpose of the lawsuit is
to keep Mr. Riney from speaking out any further.
The lawsuit for alleged defamation, libel
and invasion of privacy is based on two articles published in Liberty News,
a newsletter distributed in Ypsilanti
Township. One of the articles -- discussing Winters' past
association with racists -- is based on an old Ypsilanti Press article and
is true. Another article suggests that the present township clerk, Brenda Stumbo,
the niece of former clerk T.R. Stumbo, may have taken the taxes from "T.R.'s
Place" off the township books as a favor to her uncle and mentor.
"This suit is an attempt by these
officials to intimidate and silence a political opponent," said Tom Weider,
the ACLU cooperating attorney handling Mr. Riney’s case.
Kary Moss, ACLU of
Michigan Executive Director added, "SLAPP suits are designed to
intimidate, deter and punish activists for exercising their First Amendment
right to speak out on issues of public concern.”
Such lawsuits are
not uncommon which is why the ACLU
is working to introduce “Anti-SLAPP” legislation to allows for
attorney fees and costs to be covered if the activist wins or the case is
dismissed. Twenty-two states, including Indiana, Georgia, Tennessee,
California, Pennsylvania, and New York, already have anti-SLAPP suit laws.
C.J. Peters, a Wayne State
University law professor worked on the Fromhart case in addition
to Daniel Quick.
To read the ACLU
motion, go to: http://www.aclumich.org/pdf/briefs/sylvestermaterial%20v.%20fromhartbrief.pdf
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