On October 11, 2019, the Austin Court of Appeals upheld the denial of Alex Jones’ Texas Anti-Slapp motion in Alex E. Jones; lnfowars, LLC; and Free Speech Systems, LLC,  v. Scarlett Lewis, NO. 03-19-00423-CV (Austin COA Oct. 11, 2019). The gravamen of the lawsuit is that Jones intentionally inflicted emotional distress (IIED) on Scarlett Lewis by making statements implying Sandy Hook parents either lied about how their children were killed or that they were killed…

There are 370 opinions that use the phrase “Texas Citizens Participation Act” in the Texas state Westlaw database, and not one of them has held the TCPA unconstitutional.** The Fifth District has 81 opinions, rivaled only by combining the two Houston COAs (combined 83 opinions). Given the Dallas COAs prolificacy in the TCPA arena, it is somewhat surprising their first substantive opinion on a constitutional challenge just came in Goldberg v. EMR (USA) Holdings, Inc).…

Well sports fans, it took awhile, but the Fifth Circuit has rejected the application of the Texas Anti-Slapp in federal court in diversity actions. I have a big hearing coming up that I’m studying for, but I may jot some thoughts down about this decision over the weekend. With this decision, we are down to the Texas Supreme Court’s ruling in Grant v. Pivot Tech, as the next big unanswered question in TCPA law (at…

Back in June I wrote about Superior Health Plan v. Badawo, were the defendants asserted the plaintiff’s claim for injury to an infant denied medical care was an assault on the defendants’ rights under the TCPA. https://www.antislapptexas.com/blog/2019/6/4/does-the-texas-anti-slapp-protect-a-billion-dollar-medicaid-insurance-provider-for-denial-of-payment-of-healthcare-services-its-in-the-hands-of-the-austin-court-of-appeals The Austin Court of Appeals took little time (and spent even less ink) rejecting the appeal, applying the bodily injury exception under Section 27.010(c). Badawo asserts throughout her live petition that she seeks recovery for “brain damage and…

We are getting closer (hopefully) to a definitive interpretation from the Texas Supreme Court on “Right of Association.” The Texas Supreme Court would have issued an opinion on Elite Auto Body (probably in 2018), which is the precursor to Grant v. Pivot Technology. But Elite Auto Body settled prior to merits briefing and its taken almost a year for Grant to work its way up to merits briefing at the TSC. On August 20 we…

We are getting closer (hopefully) to a definitive interpretation from the Texas Supreme Court on “Right of Association.” The Texas Supreme Court would have issued an opinion on Elite Auto Body (probably in 2018), which is the precursor to Grant v. Pivot Technology. But Elite Auto Body settled prior to merits briefing and its taken almost a year for Grant to work its way up to merits briefing at the TSC. On August 20 we…

With one month left until the new changes to the Texas Anti-Slapp go into effect, two opinions from the Dallas and Houston COA prove it can still leave a solid hoof print on ill-advised defamation claims.   The Dallas COA closed out July 2019 affirming a dismissal under the Texas Anti-Slapp in  Mazaheri v. Tola, CA. No. 05-18-01367-CV (Dallas COA July 31, 2019), a defamation case concerning a negative review on social media about a…