AUGUSTA, Maine — The Maine House of Representatives passed Wednesday a measure to expand the state’s law protecting against lawsuits aimed at shutting down free speech.
The House passed without a roll call Wednesday the bill from Sen. Mike Tipping, D-Orono, to replace Maine’s existing law against “SLAPP” complaints — an acronym for strategic lawsuits against public participation — with a stronger statute after the Senate did the same Monday.
Maine’s existing anti-SLAPP law was enacted in 1995 and only covers lawsuits involving government proceedings. Tipping’s amended proposal would expand the law to cover any action against people or entities exercising their First Amendment rights “on a matter of public concern.”
That could extend to comments on social media or news sites, with Tipping mentioning the case of Northern Light Health threatening last year to sue a former employee for defamation after her teenage son published patient safety concerns at a Bangor hospital in a petition and newspaper.
Tipping also founded the Beacon, the news arm of the liberal Maine People’s Alliance. In 2021, The Epoch Times, a right-wing media company headquartered in New York, sued the Beacon over a story that described the media firm’s co-founder as “a far-right media personality and conspiracy theorist” present at the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. A federal appellate court dismissed the case in New York in 2022. That state has a broader anti-SLAPP law.
Critics of SLAPP complaints say they chill free speech by intimidating critics and forcing them into costly legal battles. Tipping’s proposal would see Maine adopt a Uniform Public Expression Protection Act that several other states have adopted to try to align anti-SLAPP laws, as 33 states and Washington, D.C., otherwise have varying anti-SLAPP statutes.
At the end of a multi-step process under Tipping’s bill, a defendant would have to prove the person or group that sued them does not have a “legally viable cause of action.” If a court agrees, the plaintiff that filed the SLAPP complaint would have to pay the defendant’s legal fees.
“By better shielding people and media outlets from baseless, retaliatory lawsuits, Maine can create a more vibrant and democratic public sphere, lessen the burden on our courts, and make sure the justice system cannot be used as a weapon by the wealthy and the unethical,” Tipping said.
The measure’s co-sponsors included numerous Democrats and Rep. David Boyer, R-Poland. The Judiciary Committee advanced the bill mostly along party lines, with Rep. Jennifer Poirier, R-Skowhegan, the sole Republican to align with Democratic committee members in backing it.
The ACLU of Maine and Motion Picture Association were among those to testify in support of the bill, while the Maine Principals’ Association opposed its initial version last year by warning it would protect people who make harassing or offensive statements — such as at school meetings — from being sued and “infringes on the rights of those being attacked.”
Tipping introduced his bill last year before it was carried over to this session, which is scheduled to end in mid-April. After additional votes in each chamber, the bill will head to Gov. Janet Mills, a Democrat who has not taken a stance on the proposal.