Gov. JB Pritzker signed into law Thursday a measure specifically granting journalists greater protection to fight off costly retaliatory lawsuits designed to chill their work in reporting on and investigating Illinois governmental units.
The new law is an attempt to bolster efforts to combat what are known as “strategic lawsuits against public participation” or “SLAPPs” used by political figures as acts of intimidation that use the courts to try to forestall criticism of their governmental actions.
In a statement accompanying his signing of the bill, Pritzker, a potential 2028 presidential aspirant, cited President Donald Trump’s efforts to try to weaken the work of journalists investigating his presidency and administration.
“As Trump and his friends continue their frivolous and targeted attacks on members of the free press, we are working to protect and empower Illinois journalists as they keep the general public informed,” the Democratic governor said.
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“This law will strengthen our anti-SLAPP legislation in Illinois — ensuring press don’t have to fear retaliation for reporting the truth and reminding all Illinoisans that their free speech is safe, valued and protected,” he said.
The new law is an outgrowth of a 2024 Illinois Supreme Court ruling that rejected an attempt by the Chicago Sun-Times to use the state’s current anti-SLAPP Citizens Participation Act to dismiss a 2007 defamation lawsuit filed by a former executive director of the state’s Property Tax Appeal Board involving a $1 million reduction in the assessment of the Trump International Hotel & Tower on the Chicago riverfront.
The state’s highest court concluded “that an objective person would not find defendants’ publication of the articles was reasonably calculated to elicit favorable government action or outcome,” thus failing to meet the current law’s requirement that the actions be “‘in furtherance’ of government participation.”
The new law specifically states that by the press “opining, reporting, or investigating matters of public concern,” it is “participating and communicating with the government.”
The new law takes effect immediately, but applies only to legal cases beginning on or after Jan. 1.