First Amendment Clinic files amicus brief

Abstract

The First Amendment Clinic has filed an amicus brief in the case ACLU v. Zeh urging the Georgia Supreme Court to correct a ruling by the state Court of Appeals that could weaken free speech and free press protections under Georgia's anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation statute. Georgia's highest court agreed to hear the case after the clinic filed an earlier brief in support of the ACLU's petition for review in July 2020.

The current brief on the merits argues that the lower court erroneously failed to apply the "actual malice" standard in deciding whether a defamation lawsuit survives a motion to strike under the anti-SLAPP statute. If not reversed, the ruling could chill news reporting and public statements by lawyers litigating matters of public interest. It also incentivizes "defamation tourists," with little connection to Georgia, to file suit in the state because of the relaxed standard created by the Court of Appeals' decision for showing lack of good faith.

The brief was primarily authored by clinic Director Clare R. Norins and third-year student Michael Sloman, with contributions from the University of Virginia School of Law's First Amendment Clinic. It was filed on behalf of the two clinics, the Georgia First Amendment Foundation and the Southern Center for Human Rights.

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