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Public Act 095-0506
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| SB1434 Enrolled |
LRB095 11109 AJO 31442 b |
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AN ACT concerning citizen participation.
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Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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represented in the General Assembly:
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Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the |
Citizen Participation
Act.
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Section 5. Public policy. Pursuant to the fundamental |
philosophy of the
American
constitutional form of government, |
it is declared to be the public policy of
the State of Illinois |
that the constitutional rights of citizens and
organizations to |
be involved and participate freely in the process of
government |
must be
encouraged and safeguarded with great diligence. The |
information, reports,
opinions, claims, arguments, and other |
expressions provided by citizens are
vital to effective law |
enforcement, the operation of government, the making of
public |
policy and decisions, and the continuation of representative |
democracy.
The laws, courts, and other agencies of this State |
must provide the utmost
protection for the free exercise of |
these rights of petition, speech,
association, and
government |
participation.
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Civil actions for money damages have been filed against |
citizens and
organizations of this State as a result of their |
valid exercise of their
constitutional rights to petition, |
speak freely, associate freely, and
otherwise
participate in |
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and communicate with government. There has been a disturbing
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increase in lawsuits termed "Strategic Lawsuits Against Public |
Participation"
in
government or "SLAPPs" as they are popularly |
called.
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The threat of SLAPPs
significantly chills and diminishes |
citizen participation in government,
voluntary public service, |
and the exercise of these important constitutional
rights. This |
abuse of the judicial process can and has been used as a means |
of
intimidating, harassing, or punishing citizens and |
organizations for involving
themselves in public affairs.
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It is in the public interest and it is the purpose of this |
Act to strike a
balance between the rights of persons to file |
lawsuits for injury and the
constitutional rights of persons to |
petition, speak freely, associate freely,
and
otherwise |
participate in government; to protect and encourage public
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participation in government to the maximum extent permitted by |
law; to
establish an efficient process for identification and |
adjudication of SLAPPs;
and to provide for attorney's fees and |
costs
to prevailing movants.
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Section 10. Definitions.
In this Act:
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"Government" includes a branch, department, agency,
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instrumentality, official, employee, agent, or other person |
acting under color
of law of the United States, a state, a |
subdivision of a state, or another
public authority including |
the electorate.
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"Person" includes any individual, corporation, |
association,
organization, partnership, 2 or more persons |
having a joint or common
interest, or other legal entity.
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"Judicial claim" or "claim" include any lawsuit, cause of
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action, claim, cross-claim, counterclaim, or other judicial |
pleading or filing
alleging injury.
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"Motion" includes any motion to dismiss, for summary
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judgment, or to strike, or any other judicial pleading filed to |
dispose
of a judicial claim.
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"Moving party" means any person on whose behalf a motion
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described in subsection (a) of Section 20 is filed seeking |
dismissal of a
judicial claim.
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"Responding party" means any person against whom a motion
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described in subsection (a) of Section 20 is filed.
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Section 15. Applicability.
This Act applies to any motion |
to dispose of a claim in a judicial proceeding
on the grounds |
that the claim is based on, relates to, or is in response to |
any
act or acts of the moving party in furtherance of the |
moving party's rights of
petition, speech, association, or to |
otherwise participate in government.
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Acts in furtherance of the constitutional rights to |
petition, speech,
association, and participation in government |
are immune from liability,
regardless of intent or purpose, |
except when not genuinely aimed at procuring
favorable |
government action, result, or outcome.
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Section 20. Motion procedure and standards.
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(a) On the filing of any motion as described in Section 15, |
a hearing and
decision on the motion must occur within 90 days |
after notice of the motion is
given to the
respondent.
An |
appellate
court shall expedite any appeal or other writ, |
whether interlocutory or not,
from a trial court order denying |
that motion or from a trial court's failure to
rule on that |
motion within 90 days after that trial court order or failure |
to
rule.
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(b) Discovery shall be suspended pending a decision on the |
motion. However,
discovery may be taken, upon leave of court |
for good cause shown, on the issue
of whether the movants
acts |
are not immunized from, or are not in furtherance of acts |
immunized
from, liability by this Act.
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(c) The court shall grant the motion and dismiss the |
judicial claim unless
the court finds that the responding party |
has produced clear and convincing
evidence that the acts of the |
moving party are not immunized from, or are not
in
furtherance |
of acts immunized from, liability by this Act.
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Section 25. Attorney's fees and costs.
The court shall |
award a moving party who prevails in a motion under this Act
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reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred in connection |
with the motion.
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Section 30. Construction of Act.
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(a) Nothing in this Act shall limit or preclude any rights |
the
moving party may have under any other constitutional, |
statutory, case or common
law, or rule provisions.
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(b) This Act shall be construed liberally to effectuate its |
purposes and
intent fully.
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Section 35. Severability. The provisions of this Act
are |
severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.
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Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
becoming law. |