The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania has joined an amicus brief with media and free-speech organizations in Salaam v. Trump, a defamation case filed against then-candidate Donald Trump regarding comments he made about the Central Park Five during a Presidential-campaign debate in Philadelphia.
The amicus brief argues that Pennsylvania’s anti-SLAPP law (Pennsylvania Uniform Public Expression Protection Act), passed in 2024, provides invaluable free-speech protections against SLAPPs, and should apply to such lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania’s federal courts. SLAPP stands for Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, and is shorthand for what are frivolous and harassing lawsuits claiming defamation or interference with business or other injuries. These lawsuits are largely designed to chill and suppress people’s public participation in important civic issues.
The amicus brief does not take a position on whether now-President Trump meets the test to get immunity and protection under Pennsylvania’s anti-SLAPP law; only that the protections should extend to federal lawsuits raising Pennsylvania legal claims. The defenses should be available to all defendants in SLAPP suits, including the president, and including when the case is brought in federal court.
Joining ACLU-PA in filing the amicus are the Electronic Frontier Front (EFF), the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), the Institute for Free Speech (IFS), the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters (PAB), the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association (PNA), the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, and the Student Press Law Center (SPLC).