Citizens Participation Act has been gutted. Can it be saved?

For the Defense

By Patrick Eckler

Patrick Eckler is a partner at Freeman, Mathis, & Gary LLP representing defendants in civil matters. He is secretary/treasurer of the Illinois Defense Counsel and co-host of the Podium and Panel podcast. The views expressed here are solely his own.

Posted February 29, 2024 11:47 AM

The Citizens Participation Act should be a powerful tool that defendant media organizations and others can use to defeat lawsuits and recover fees against those who seek to use litigation to chill the constitutional participation in government through fundamental rights such as free speech and seeking redress. However, and as discussed in this space on July 22, 2020, since the Illinois Supreme Court decided Sandholm v. Kuecker, 2012 IL 111443, the statute has largely been a dead letter because the court read the word …

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