Chevron: Protect the Protest’s Corporate Bully of the Year
May 29, 2019
Today, activists gathered outside Chevron’s annual meeting to tell CEO Michael Wirth that the company must stop being a corporate bully. Speakers at the event said that the company has spent over $2 billion and engaged over 2,000 lawyers to avoid accountability for its environmental violations in Ecuador. Share this… Read More
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Encyclopedia of Types of SLAPPs
August 28, 2018
Legal bullies never admit that they are filing a “strategic lawsuit against public participation” (SLAPP); SLAPPs come disguised as legitimate legal claims. Here are some of the most common types of legal theories used in SLAPPs. Note: these legal theories all appear in legitimate lawsuits, as well; in each case,…
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Energy Transfer Partners and Kasowitz Law Firm SLAPP Against Environmental Organizations
August 10, 2018
In August, 2017 Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) – which is building the Dakota Access Pipeline – filed a USD$900 million lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota alleging violations of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and other claims against Greenpeace International, Greenpeace,…
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How Litigation Throttles Civic Advocacy
May 22, 2017
Bunny Mcdiarmid, Executive Director of Greenpeace International discusses how corporations are using SLAPPs to target advocacy groups. This article explains why corporations would pursue a lawsuit that they expect to lose: “In many ways, hiring goons is a lot easier and…
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Law Firm Uses Anti-Mafia Law to Harass Environmentalists
August 28, 2018
New York City-based law firm Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP is attempting to use an anti-mafia law to stifle the free speech of civil society organizations. In July 2018, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Canadian logging giant, Resolute Forest Products, against environmental organizations Greenpeace and Stand.earth. Resolute and…
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Resolute Forest Products and Kasowitz Law Firm SLAPP Against Environmental Organizations
August 28, 2018
On May 31, 2016 Resolute Forest Products filed a $300 million (CAD – Canadian dollars) lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia alleging violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and other claims against Greenpeace International, Greenpeace, Inc., Greenpeace Fund, Inc.,…
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The Dakota Access Pipeline Company Is Abusing the Judicial System to Silence Dissent
March 04, 2019
The ACLU discusses how pipeline company Energy Transfer is abusing the judicial system in order to suppress the rights of activists. The article is available on the ACLU’s website and is re-posted here with permission. In a win for free speech, a federal court in North Dakota recently… Read More
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U.N. must examine growing trend of U.S. corporations using courts to silence dissent, says free speech group
January 15, 2019
WASHINGTON, DC — Protect the Protest, an international task force of over 20 organizations working to protect free speech, is calling on the U.N. Human Rights Committee to address the growing trend of corporations and individuals in the United States using Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) to… Read More
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The Term “Eco-Terrorist” is Being Used to Harass Activists
January 03, 2019
In an article for Grist, Justine Calma and Paola Rosa-Aquino discuss a 1990s tactic that is growing in popularity once again: labeling activists as “eco-terrorists.” Across the world, we are witnessing growing efforts by governments and corporations to silence environmental activists. According to Calma and Rosa-Aquino, “The consequences of… Read More
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Pipeline Protester Fights Back Against Corporation’s Sprawling, Outlandish Lawsuit
December 21, 2018
BISMARCK, ND — Krystal Two Bulls, an Oglala Lakota and Northern Cheyenne U.S. army veteran and environmental and Indigenous rights activist, today urged a federal court to dismiss a racketeering lawsuit filed against her for her role in standing for land, water, and her People against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Read More
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Energy Transfer Continues Aggressive Attempts to Silence Opposition: Greenpeace Report
October 18, 2018
WASHINGTON, DC, October 18, 2018 — A new Greenpeace USA report “Still Too Far: Energy Transfer Continues to Display Concerning Corporate Behavior” compiles recent evidence that the pipeline company is still aggressively trying to silence opposition to its pipelines across the United States, despite calls from communities, financial institutions,… Read More
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Lawsuit Against Greenpeace Raises Freedom of Speech Concerns
August 10, 2018
Human Rights Watch discusses a SLAPP filed by Resolute Forest Products against Greenpeace and Stand.earth, which uses the U.S. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Human Rights Watch notes that SLAPPs pose a significant threat to the freedoms of expression, assembly, and association. Read More
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The New Corporate Playbook, Or What To Do When Environmentalists Stand In Your Way
August 10, 2018
In the Huffington Post, Katie Redford of EarthRights International discusses the growing trend in which American corporations use the court system to silence their critics. Common tactics in the “corporate playbook” include retaliatory litigation; attacks on funding sources, partners, and clients; corporate espionage and surveillance; and using Congress… Read More
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Defending Dissent: SLAPP Lawsuits and the Fight For Free Speech
August 10, 2018
The International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR) discusses a SLAPP filed by Resolute Forest Products against Greenpeace and Stand.earth, which uses the U.S. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. ICAR discusses the threat that this SLAPP poses to free speech in the United States. Read More
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“I Say Corporations are Destroying the Planet. So Sue Me?”
August 10, 2018
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) discusses two SLAPPs brought by the law firm Kasowitz Benson Torres against Greenpeace and other environmental organizations. One is a SLAPP on behalf of Resolute Forest Products against Greenpeace and Stand.earth, using the U.S. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Read More
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7 Things You Need to Know About ETP’s Lawsuit Against Greenpeace
August 10, 2018
Greenpeace provides background on a SLAPP brought by Energy Transfer Pipelines, the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline, against Greenpeace, Earth First!, and BankTrack. The SLAPP uses the U.S. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. Read More
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The Day I Was Treated Like a Mobster and Served a $300 Million Lawsuit for Defending Forests
August 10, 2018
Greenpeace’s senior forest campaigner Daniel Brindis describes his experience being sued as a Greenpeace employee by Resolute Forest Products for his public interest work. Read More
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Logging Giant Uses Bogus Lawsuits to Intimidate Environmental Activists
August 10, 2018
EarthRights International discusses a SLAPP filed by Resolute Forest Products against Greenpeace and Stand.earth, which uses the U.S. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. EarthRights International analyzes how the case poses a broad threat to civil society movements in the United States. Read More
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Judge Slams Pipeline Corporation for Frivolous Legal Claims Against Activists
August 03, 2018
On August 3, 2018, a federal court blocked Energy Transfer Partners, developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline, from continuing a SLAPP against the Earth First! Movement. The court rejected the company’s allegations as factually unsupported. Read More
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Court Dismisses Frivolous and “Dangerously Broad” Lawsuit Against NGO BankTrack for Opposing Dakota Access Pipeline
July 25, 2018
On July 25, 2018, a federal court dismissed a SLAPP lawsuit by developers of the Dakota Access Pipeline against BankTrack, a human rights and environmental NGO dedicated to ensuring that private banks engage in sustainable financing. Read More
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Dangerous Lawsuit against Greenpeace Threatens News Organizations and First Amendment
February 19, 2018
This article by Camille Fassett of the Freedom of the Press Foundation describes a SLAPP brought by Energy Transfer Partners — the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline — against Greenpeace and other environmental organizations. Although this SLAPP targets environmental organizations, Freedom of the Press Foundation discusses… Read More
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