On December 26, 2024 the News/Media Alliance Joined an amicus brief led by RCFP in Lento Law Group, P.C. v. Carly Hendrickson in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division. Lento Law Group filed a defamation suit against Hendrickson for criticizing their fees on the Better Business Bureau website.
The trial court granted Hendrickson’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit because her comments concerned a matter of public interest and are therefore protected under New Jersey’s anti-SLAPP law. On appeal, the amicus brief advocated for affirming the trial court’s dismissal. The brief stresses the purpose of New Jersey’s anti-SLAPP law—to counter the threats to First Amendment expression posed by the weaponization of libel and defamation suits against critics. Hendrickson’s speech, a consumer opinion about a business in her community, is of the very sort the anti-SLAPP Law is meant to protect from being bullied into silence by frivolous claims meant to deter criticism.
