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Full-Text Articles in Law
Slapping Back In Federal Court: Florida’S Anti-Slapp Statute, Harris Blum
Slapping Back In Federal Court: Florida’S Anti-Slapp Statute, Harris Blum
University of Miami Law Review
Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, or “SLAPPs,” are frivolous lawsuits used to silence and harass critics by forcing them to spend money on legal fees. An overwhelming majority of states have enacted anti-SLAPP statutes to shield against these lawsuits, recognizing their potential to chill free speech and healthy debate. Though anti-SLAPP statutes come in different shapes and sizes, they commonly employ procedural mechanisms such as expedited dismissal procedures, heightened standards at the pleading and summary judgment stages, and fee-shifting provisions. The unintended consequence of these features is that SLAPP filers can often elude the protections of anti-SLAPP statutes by filing …
Muzzling Anti-Vaxxer Fear Speech: Overcoming Free Speech Obstacles With Compelled Speech, Barbara Pfeffer Billauer
Muzzling Anti-Vaxxer Fear Speech: Overcoming Free Speech Obstacles With Compelled Speech, Barbara Pfeffer Billauer
University of Miami Law Review
As the anti-vax industry continues to stoke fear and incite vaccine resistance, some means must be found to detoxify their false messages. Counterspeech, the preferred mode to deal with unfortunate rhetoric, is both ineffective and counter-effective when addressing factual “scientific speech” addressing health, I show here that many instances of the most potent anti-vax speech arise in the context of arguably commercial speech. I therefore investigate other free speech protections available to shield factually false anti-vax speech used in this context, concluding that while complete First Amendment protection may exist in the context of political speech (without proof of fraud), …