SLAPP suit

noun

ˈslap- 

variants or less commonly SLAPP

plural SLAPP suits also SLAPPs

law : a lawsuit alleging defamation that is in reality brought for the purpose of intimidating, burdening, punishing, or harassing the defendant for speaking out against the plaintiff on matters of public interest

SLAPP suits function by forcing the target into the judicial arena where the SLAPP filer foists upon the target the expenses of a defense. The purpose of such gamesmanship ranges from simple retribution for past activism to discouraging future activism.

—Gordon v. Marrone, 590 N.Y.S. 2d 649 (1992)

The lawsuit looks, feels, and smells like a SLAPP …, a shameful attempt to cut off discussion on a controversial local issue. Developers, with depressing regularity, file SLAPPs to muzzle their critics.

—Editor & Publisher

Word History

Etymology

strategic lawsuits against public participation

Note: The acronym was introduced by the sociologist Penelope Canan and environmental lawyer George W. Pring in several publications in the 1980's, as "Studying Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation: Mixing Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches," Law & Society Review, vol. 22, no. 2 (1988), pp. 385-95.

First Known Use

1989, in the meaning defined above