Anti-SLAPP Law’s Automatic Stay Under Fire at Capitol

For longtime Dallas attorney Randal Mathis, the Texas Citizens Participation Act is a law that has been serially abused by his opponent in a long-running estate battle to thwart collection of a $50 million judgment to the detriment of his client and his law firm.

That same statute is a savior to small-town newspaper publisher Kelli Barnes. Without its free speech protections, the Polk County Enterprise might have suffered a devastating financial blow when it was sued by an assistant district attorney over the paper’s article that linked him to a notorious wrongful conviction.