House Committee on Judiciary (JUD) - chair: Waters, vice chair: Oshiro

Tuesday, January 30, 2007, Conference Room 325

Testifier: Jean Aoki, Legislative Liason, LWV

Click here to view HB380

The League of Women Voters strongly supports the intent of this bill which defines “SLAPP”, Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation, and adds the proper protections for groups taking legitimate actions to exercise what is a constitutional right to petition government for the adoption of certain policies, to support certain projects, or to take certain actions. Individuals and many non-profit organizations with limited funding can easily be intimidated by even the threat of a law suit even when convinced of the legality and legitimacy of their actions, and thus be silenced. We have not had the time to really study this bill and do the necessary research to comment on the particulars, and hope to learn more as the bill moves through the process. We do applaud the intent. We urge you to move this bill forward to allow the public to really understand its implications and its impact on our right to civil participation in government. Thank you for this opportunity to comment on HB 380