Governor Mike Kehoe has signed into law the Missouri Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (“UPEPA”). The UPEPA provides Missouri with the most modern Anti-SLAPP law to prevent abusive litigation brought to silence or retaliate against somebody on account of their exercise of their free speech and related rights. Among others, journalists, online reviewers and critics, and those who comment upon governmental matters will now have a higher level of protection against abusive litigation meant to chill or silence them.
The prior Missouri Anti-SLAPP Act at Mo.Stat. § 537.528 was disappointingly limited. The primary problem was that the protections of the old statute were limited to speech made in relation to some governmental hearing and not broader First Amendment free speech and related rights.
By contrast, the UPEPA provides broad coverage for protected constitutional speech and related rights in addition to protecting speech in connection with a governmental proceeding. Further, the UPEPA offers the additional benefit of uniformity of decisions (more or less) between all the states that have adopted that Act.
The effort to get Missouri to pass the UPEPA was a long one. Back in February of 2023, I traveled to Jefferson City in miserable weather to meet with legislators and testify in support of the Act. Although there didn’t seem to be any real opposition to the UPEPA, it limped along from session to session until it was finally passed this year and signed into law. The persistent efforts of all those associated with the Uniform Law Commission’s efforts in Missouri are worthy of a standing applause.
As of the date of writing, 15 states have adopted the UPEPA (or maybe 16 depending on how one categorizes Oregon), making the UPEPA the by-far largest body of Anti-SLAPP law in the world. About 11 other states have Anti-SLAPP statutes that are very similar to the UPEPA in their operation, which means that 26 states now have excellent Anti-SLAPP laws.
For those who are unfamiliar, the UPEPA provides for a “special motion” that determines at the outset of the case whether particular causes of action are meritorious and can survive a motion for summary judgment. Once the special motion is made, proceedings (including discovery) screeches to a halt and only the special motion is litigated. Once the movant proves that the cause of action falls within the UPEPA’s scope of protections, then essentially the summary judgment standard is employed. If the movant loses the special motion, then the movant has an immediate appeal of right of the denial of the motion and the stay persists until the appeal is resolved. If the movant wins the motion, then mandatory attorney fees and costs will be assessed against the party who brought the challenged cause of action.
Not only does the UPEPA resolve free speech and related issues more quickly, but it also provides a powerful deterrent to those who might otherwise bring abusive litigation for the purpose of chilling free speech or retaliating against those who have exercised their free speech.
Missourians now have these protections as well.
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