1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled: We, the undersigned, petition Congress to enact the Free Speech, Anti-SLAPP, and Precedent Preservation Act. This Act codifies the "Actual Malice" standard of New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964) into federal statutory law and deploys an aggressive, uniform Anti-SLAPP procedural framework to completely strip bad-faith public actors of the ability to use the judiciary as a tool of intimidation. Section 1: The Statutory "Actual Malice" Mandate • The Baseline Rule: No public official or public figure may sustain a civil action for defamation, libel, or slander in any state or federal court unless they prove by clear and convincing evidence that the statement was made with "Actual Malice"—defined strictly as knowledge that the statement was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not. Section 2: The Core Anti-SLAPP Procedural Shield (UPEPA Integration) To prevent wealthy plaintiffs or public officials from bankrupting defendants through the litigation process alone, this Act establishes an immediate, non-bypassable procedural emergency brake: • The 60-Day Special Motion: A defendant targeted by a lawsuit involving public expression or petitioning rights has the right to file a Special Motion for Expedited Relief within 60 days of being served.
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 • The Automatic Discovery Freeze: The instant this motion is filed, all discovery, depositions, and trial proceedings are automatically stayed (frozen) by law. The plaintiff cannot force the defendant to sit for depositions or turn over private documents, eliminating the plaintiff's primary financial leverage.
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 • Expedited Timeline: The court is statutorily mandated to hold a hearing on the motion within 60 days of filing and must issue a binding ruling within 60 days of that hearing.
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 Section 3: Shifting the Evidentiary Burden • The Threshold: The defendant must only show that the lawsuit stems from their exercise of free speech, press, assembly, or petition on a matter of public concern. • The Prima Facie Hurdle: Once that threshold is met, the burden shifts entirely to the plaintiff. The plaintiff must immediately produce a prima facie case—meaning they must present real, admissible evidence showing they have a winning case right then and there. If they cannot produce this evidence upfront without dragging the defendant through a multi-year trial, the judge must dismiss the case with prejudice (meaning it can never be refiled).
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 Section 4: Severe Penalties & Stripping of Immunity • Mandatory Fee-Shifting: If the court dismisses the case under this Act, the plaintiff public official or figure shall be personally liable for 100% of the defendant's court costs, reasonable attorney fees, and associated litigation expenses. • The "Voluntary Dismissal" Trap Close: If a plaintiff realizes they are going to lose the anti-SLAPP motion and tries to quickly drop the lawsuit ("dismiss without prejudice") to avoid penalties, the court retains absolute jurisdiction to rule on the motion anyway and force the plaintiff to pay the defendant's legal fees regardless. • Criminal Deprivation of Rights: Any public official who uses state resources or explicitly crafts local ordinances to bypass these federal protections shall be subject to criminal prosecution under 18 U.S. Code § 242 for the intentional deprivation of constitutional rights under color of law.