Process
Status Items Output None Questions None Claims None Highlights Done See section below
Highlights
id569499634
These charges seek to silence and stop opposition to an unpopular development project. They also telegraph a message to others in the state and nationwide: we will not tolerate lawful protest in Georgia. This strategy is what is known as a Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation (SLAPP), which is an intimidation lawsuit, typically used by private corporations against those who speak out on matters of public interest. Various state governments are increasingly deploying this tactic, too.
✏️ The power of corporations over people. They can use the law to intimidate and silence any form of protest against them. 🔗 View Highlight
id569499688
SLAPPs don’t usually win in court, but that’s not what they’re intended to do. Instead, they set out to threaten activists and drain the financial resources of social movements. They often unfold as years-long wars of attrition, where corporations and governments with disproportionately large resources grind down the financial, emotional, and legal capacities of activists. The threat of such a suit — typically brought against individuals or groups that confront powerful people or institutions — discourages free speech and association, chilling democracy itself.
✏️ This is core to the power imbalance. It’s not even about winning.. it’s about completely overwhelming the protesters and using the corporation’s biggest asset (its wealth) to starve out the “enemy”. 🔗 View Highlight
id569499975
the point of these suits: to send out the message to either shut up, or suffer the consequences.
id569500123
from farmers and ranchers to journalists and Indigenous activists. All of them are on the receiving end of David vs. Goliath legal tactics that have long served powerful interests with near-endless resources.