전략적 소송(SLAPP)에 관한 연구

SLAPP is an acronym for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation. The term was coined in 1988 by two University of Denver professors, George W. Pring, Professor of Law, and Penelope Canan, Professor of Sociology. Pring and Canan created the term in connection with a ten-year interdisciplinary study. SLAPPs are civil complaints or counterclaims in which the alleged injury was the result of petitioning or free speech activities protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. SLAPPs are often brought by corporations, real estate developers, or government officials and entities against individuals or organizations who oppose them on public issues. Typically, SLAPPs are based on ordinary civil tort claims such as defamation, malicious prosecution, abuse of power, conspiracy, and interference with prospective economic advantage. While most SLAPPs are legally meritless, they can effectively achieve their principal purpose: to chill public debate on specific issues. Defending a SLAPP requires substantial money, time, and legal resources, and thus diverts the defendant’s attention away from the public issue. An effective solution to SLAPPs is the only way to keep the dispute in the political forum where they belong. The solution must do more than merely help the defendant; it must cut to the heart of the problem and eliminate the cause, specifically the economic incentive to employ SLAPPs.