Conroy
Conroy v. Spitzer
Opinion
Opinion
Sills, J.
J.Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 was enacted to discourage the filing of SLAPP suits — otherwise known as strategic lawsuits against public participation. SLAPP suits are, by definition, aimed at chilling the valid exercise of political rights, particularly the right of freedom of speech and the right to petition the government for the redress of grievances.
The present case involves what the trial court characterized as a SLAPP suit, and after reviewing the entire record we agree. Mickey Conroy filed a defamation suit against Todd Spitzer, his political rival in the 1996 elections for the Orange County Board of Supervisors. At that time Conroy was a California State Assemblyman whose former assistant had filed sexual harassment charges against him. Conroy was investigated by the Assembly and reprimanded for violating the Assembly’s sexual harassment policy. Various newspapers reported on the sexual harassment suit, Conroy’s reprimand and the cost of Conroy’s defense. During his campaign, Spitzer made numerous comments about the sexual harassment suit, which became the basis for Conroy’s defamation suit.