A state law designed to prevent lawsuits that curtail public participation in government now explicitly protects the news media.
Gov. JB Pritzker signed a measure into law on Thursday that was spurred by a former government official’s lawsuit against the Chicago Sun-Times. Senate Bill 1181 explicitly protects non-investigative news reporting against “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” otherwise known as SLAPP lawsuits.
The Illinois Supreme Court allowed a lawsuit by a former Property Tax Appeals Board director to continue against the Sun-Times last year despite the paper’s claims that it was a SLAPP suit under the 2007 Citizen Participation Act.
Sun-Times reporting
The paper published multiple articles about government watchdog investigations into the former executive director of the PTAB, Mauro Glorioso, stemming from the board’s treatment of a property tax appeal at Trump Tower in Chicago.
The complaint, which has since been ruled unfounded by the Office of the Executive Inspector General, claimed that Glorioso, a Republican, told staff “he wanted a large reduction in the assessment of Trump Tower because the owner of the property was the president of the United States.”
Glorioso sued the newspaper in 2021, claiming the paper defamed him by mischaracterizing the OEIG investigation, misstating his motivation and overstating his involvement in the decision.
Supreme Court ruling
The court ruled in November that the Sun-Times’ articles weren’t investigations, which would have been protected under the law. Instead, the court wrote, the articles were news reports about something a government agency was doing and lacked any intent to elicit action from the government — which was needed for SLAPP protections to be applicable.
The court allowed the suit to continue at the lower level.
“This is not to minimize or understate the importance of the press and other news media in our democracy,” Justice David K. Overstreet wrote in the opinion. “Our jurisprudence is replete with privileges and other protections designed to protect these concerns, many of which remain at issue in this lawsuit. We are simply holding that the (Citizen Participation) Act specifically protects government participation and does not encompass all media reports on matters of public concern.”
That’s no longer the case after the signing of SB 1181, which reads: “The press opining, reporting, or investigating matters of public concern is participating and communicating with the government,” meaning organizations doing so are protected under the law.
‘Ensures the media can do their job freely’
The measure was sponsored in the Senate by former news anchor Steve Stadelman, D-Rockford.
“As a former news anchor, I know it’s essential for the media to use their First Amendment right to free speech and press,” Stadelman said in a statement. “This law ensures the media can do their job freely, without fear of legal harassment or intimidation.”
Gov. JB Pritzker shared similar sentiments.
“As Trump and his friends continue their frivolous and targeted attacks on members of the free press, we are working to protect and empower Illinois journalists as they keep the general public informed,” Pritzker said in a news release. “This law will strengthen our anti-SLAPP legislation in Illinois — ensuring press don’t have to fear retaliation for reporting the truth and reminding all Illinoisans that their free speech is safe, valued, and protected.”
The measure also provides that all legal proceedings in a case, including discovery, would be stayed while a party’s Citizen Participation Act lawsuit motion progresses in court.
Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-Geneva, was among the Republicans who voiced concerns on the House floor.
“I believe we’re going to have an unintended impact of actually harming individuals who are just trying to protect themselves from what could be very irresponsible journalism, all under the guise of protecting the constitutional right of the freedom of the press,” Ugaste said before voting “no.”
Rep. Daniel Didech, D-Buffalo Grove, explained the reasoning behind the change during floor debate.
“We are amending the statute so there still has to be a nexus to that exercise of constitutional rights, but the conduct does not have to be solely related to that exercise,” Didech said.
The bill cleared the House 75-38 and the Senate 47-10.
Bridgette Fox contributed reporting to this story. Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.