Cdcr

In order for government to function effectively, state officials must have the freedom to make tough policy decisions and tell the public about the reasons behind those decisions, without fear that their statements will expose them to tort liability. For this reason, Civil Code section 47, subdivision (a) cloaks all acts in the proper discharge of an official’s duty with an absolute privilege.

In this case, the director of the Department of Corrections published a letter terminating the state’s contract with a private prison contractor on the ground, inter alia, that the contractor had “misappropriated” public funds. The contractor, Maranatha Corrections, LLC, along with coplaintiffs the Moreland Family, LLC, and Terry Moreland filed suit against defendants the director, the CDCR, and the State of California, claiming libel and trade disparagement.

The trial court granted defendants’ special motion to strike the defamation-based causes of action on grounds that the publication of the letter was protected by the absolute privilege for official acts within the meaning of Civil Code section 47, subdivision (a). The court also awarded defendants attorney fees pursuant to…