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I'd assume those laws generally wouldn't apply to an attorney general's investigation.
by nitwit005 3y ago
I'd assume those laws generally wouldn't apply to an attorney general's investigation.
- singleshot_ 3y agoWouldn’t this be the most important protection a federal anti-SLAPP statute could provide? I can’t think of another reason why a federal law would be necessary…
- jcranmer 3y agoBecause it would cover cases where things end up in federal court because of diversity jurisdiction. Some circuits (e.g., the 9th) have ruled that state anti-SLAPP laws apply in such scenarios, but other circuits (e.g., the 5th) have ruled that they do not apply. Not uncoincidentally, X (a Nevada corporation whose HQ is in California, and whose ToS and presumably all other contracts generally say CA is the proper jurisdiction) filed its lawsuit against Media Matters (a Delaware corporation whose HQ is in DC) in, uh, Texas.
- singleshot_ 3y agoVery interesting answer. Much appreciated.
- dragonwriter 3y agoYeah, that would be a matter for Ku Klux Klan Act (Enforcement Act of 1871), not an anti-SLAPP law. The good thing is that this law exists, and provides civil and criminal remedies for state officials engaged in deprivation of Constitutional rights under color of law. The bad thing is that abusive extensions of the Qualified Immunity doctrine has rendered the civil provisions basically a dead letter, and it is very difficult to convince federal prosecutors to enforce the criminal provisions for any but the most egregious violations (by which I mean ones that end up with death of grievous bodily injury resulting from the violation of rights, not something based on how fundamental the rights are.)