Senate Bill 0306

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.


    Florida Senate - 2000                                   SB 306

    By Senator Lee





    23-335-00                                           See HB 135

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to government; creating the

  3         "Citizen Participation in Government Act";

  4         providing for its purposes; defining terms;

  5         providing procedures for the judiciary to

  6         respond to lawsuits relating to the

  7         constitutional right to petition the government

  8         for redress of grievances; providing an

  9         effective date.

10

11         WHEREAS, the framers of our constitutions, recognizing

12  citizen participation in government as an inalienable right

13  essential to the survival of democracy, secured its protection

14  through the right to petition the government for redress of

15  grievances in the First Amendment to the United States

16  Constitution and s. 5, Art. I of the State Constitution, and

17         WHEREAS, the communications, information, opinions,

18  reports, testimony, claims, and arguments provided by citizens

19  to their government are essential to wise government decisions

20  and public policy in protecting the public health, safety, and

21  welfare, in providing effective law enforcement, and in

22  ensuring the efficient operation of government programs, and

23  are essential to the credibility and trust afforded government

24  and the preservation of our republican form of government

25  through representative democracy, and

26         WHEREAS, civil lawsuits and counterclaims, often

27  involving millions of dollars, have been and are being filed

28  against countless citizens, businesses, and organizations

29  because of their valid exercise of their right to petition,

30  including seeking relief, influencing action, informing,

31

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2000                                   SB 306
    23-335-00                                           See HB 135




  1  communicating, and otherwise participating with government

  2  bodies, officials, or employees or the electorate, and

  3         WHEREAS, such lawsuits, called "Strategic Lawsuits

  4  Against Public Participation" or "SLAPPs," are typically

  5  dismissed as unconstitutional, but often not before the

  6  defendants are put to great expense, harassment, and

  7  interruption of their duties, and

  8         WHEREAS, the number of such lawsuits has increased

  9  significantly over the past 30 years, and

10         WHEREAS, these lawsuits are an abuse of the judicial

11  process and are used to censor, intimidate, or punish

12  citizens, businesses, and organizations for involving

13  themselves in public affairs, and

14         WHEREAS, controlling these lawsuits will make a major

15  contribution to lawsuit reform, and

16         WHEREAS, the threat of financial liability, litigation

17  costs, destruction of one's business, loss of one's home, and

18  other personal losses from groundless lawsuits seriously

19  affects government, commerce, and individual rights by

20  significantly diminishing public participation in government,

21  in public discourse, and in voluntary public service, and

22         WHEREAS, while courts have recognized the harm from

23  such lawsuits and have discouraged them, protection of these

24  fundamental rights has been inadequate, and

25         WHEREAS, while some citizen communications to

26  government inevitably will be false or unsound or made out of

27  self-interest or in bad faith, it is essential in our

28  democracy that the constitutional rights of citizens to

29  participate fully in the process of government be uniformly,

30  consistently, and comprehensively protected and encouraged,

31  NOW, THEREFORE,

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                   SB 306
    23-335-00                                           See HB 135




  1  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

  2

  3         Section 1.  Short title.--This act may be cited as the

  4  "Citizen Participation in Government Act."

  5         Section 2.  Declaration of purposes.--The purposes of

  6  this act are to:

  7         (1)  Protect and encourage public participation in

  8  government to the maximum extent permitted by law.

  9         (2)  Create a more equitable balance between the rights

10  of persons to file lawsuits and to trial by jury and the

11  rights of persons to petition, speak out, associate, and

12  otherwise participate in their governments.

13         (3)  Support the operations of and assure the

14  continuation of representative government in this country for

15  the protection and regulation of public health, safety, and

16  welfare by protecting public participation in government

17  programs and public policy decisions.

18         (4)  Establish a balanced, uniform, comprehensive

19  process for speedy adjudication of "Strategic Lawsuits Against

20  Public Participation" as a major contribution to lawsuit

21  reform.

22         (5)  Provide for attorney's fees, costs, and damages

23  for persons whose citizen-participation rights have been

24  violated by the filing of a strategic lawsuit against public

25  participation against them.

26         Section 3.  Definitions.--As used in this act, the

27  term:

28         (1)  "Government entity" means the state, or any

29  political subdivision of the state, including, but not limited

30  to, a county, municipality, district, or authority, or any

31

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                   SB 306
    23-335-00                                           See HB 135




  1  agency thereof, however styled, that independently exercises

  2  governmental authority.

  3         (2)  "State" means a state, the District of Columbia,

  4  the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and each territory and

  5  possession of the United States.

  6         (3)  "Judicial claim" or "claim" means any lawsuit,

  7  cause of action, claim, cross-claim, counterclaim, or other

  8  judicial pleading or filing requesting relief.

  9         (4)  "Motion" means any motion to dismiss, motion for

10  summary judgment, motion for judgment on the pleadings, motion

11  to strike, demurrer, or any other judicial pleading filed to

12  dispose of a judicial claim.

13         (5)  "Moving party" means any person on whose behalf

14  the motion provided in section 4 is filed seeking dismissal of

15  the judicial claim.

16         (6)  "Petitioning activity" means the lawful exercise

17  of the constitutional right to petition, including seeking

18  relief, influencing action, informing, communicating, and

19  otherwise participating in the processes of government.

20         (7)  "Responding party" means any governmental entity

21  against whom the motion provided for in section 4 is filed.

22         Section 4.  In any judicial proceeding, a party may

23  file a motion to dispose of a claim brought by any

24  governmental entity on the grounds that the claim is based on,

25  relates to, or is in response to the moving party's lawful

26  petitioning activity. On the filing of such a motion:

27         (1)  Discovery is suspended, pending decision on the

28  motion and appeals.

29         (2)  The responding party has the burden of proof, of

30  going forward with the evidence, and of persuasion on the

31  motion.

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                   SB 306
    23-335-00                                           See HB 135




  1         (3)  The court must make its determination based upon

  2  the facts contained in the pleadings and affidavits filed.

  3         (4)  The court must grant the motion and dismiss the

  4  judicial claim, unless the responding party has produced clear

  5  and convincing evidence that:

  6         (a)  The claims made in the petitioning activity were

  7  devoid of reasonable factual support or lacked a cognizable

  8  basis in law.

  9         (b)  The primary purpose of the petitioning activity

10  was to harass the responding party or for some other improper

11  purpose.

12         (c)  The petitioning activity caused actual injury to

13  the responding party.

14         (5)  Any government body to which the moving party's

15  acts were directed or the Attorney General may intervene to

16  defend or otherwise support the moving party in the suit.

17         (6)  If the court grants any motion under this section,

18  the court must award to the moving party, without regard to

19  any limits under state law:

20         (a)  Costs of litigation, including reasonable

21  attorney's fees and expert witness fees incurred in connection

22  with the motion.

23         (b)  Such additional sanctions upon the responding

24  party, its attorneys, or law firms as it finds will be

25  sufficient to deter repetition of such conduct and comparable

26  conduct by others similarly situated.

27         (7)  A person damaged or injured by reason of a claim

28  filed in violation of his or her rights to engage in

29  petitioning activity may seek relief in the form of a claim

30  for actual or compensatory damages, as well as punitive

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                   SB 306
    23-335-00                                           See HB 135




  1  damages, attorney's fees, and costs from the governmental

  2  entity responsible.

  3         Section 5.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

  4  law.

  5

  6            *****************************************

  7                          HOUSE SUMMARY

  8
      Creates the "Citizen Participation in Government Act."
  9    Provides procedures for the judiciary to handle lawsuits
      dealing with the right to petition government. See bill
10    for details.

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