Bynum

DISCUSSION

A SLAPP is a “meritless suit filed primarily to chill the defendant’s exercise of First Amendment rights.” (Wilcox v. Superior Court (1994) 27 Cal.App.4th 809, 815, fn. 2 (Wilcox), disapproved on other grounds in Equilon Enterprises v. Consumer Cause, Inc. (2002) 29 Cal.4th 53, 68, fn. 5.) In response to the threat such lawsuits posed to the important public policy of open and free participation in the democratic process, the Legislature adopted Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16 (section 425.16). (Baharian- Mehr v. Smith (2010) 189 Cal.App.4th 265, 271.) That section (which is generally referred to as the “anti-SLAPP statute” and a motion thereunder as an “anti-SLAPP motion”) sets out a procedure for striking complaints brought to challenge the exercise of constitutionally protected free speech rights. (Muddy Waters, LLC v. Superior Court (2021) 62 Cal.App.5th 905, 916.) “ ‘The anti-SLAPP statute does not insulate defendants from any liability for claims arising from the protected rights of petition or speech. It only provides a procedure for weeding out, at an early stage, meritless claims arising from protected activity. Resolution of an anti-SLAPP motion…