The District has jumped into a lawsuit between Redskins owner Dan Snyder and the Washington City Paper, trying to defend a D.C. law meant to protect free speech that Snyder says is unconstitutional. D.C. Attorney General Irvin Nathan says in court documents filed late Tuesday that a ruling by the D.C. Superior Court against the city’s new anti-SLAPP act (banning strategic lawsuits against public participation) “could have a profound impact on the rights of political participants in the District of Columbia.”
The law went into effect in March — a month before Snyder filed his suit against the City Paper, claiming the alternative weekly published untrue statements about him in a 2010 cover story. Like similar laws passed in more than 25 jurisdictions, the District’s Anti-SLAPP Act is meant to prevent wealthy people and companies from using libel lawsuits to cut into the First Amendment rights of others who might not be able to afford to defend themselves.
