In a landmark victory for free speech rights in Delaware, Governor Matt Meyer signed Senate Bill 80 into law on September 15, enacting the Uniform Law Commission’s Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA). This legislation replaces Delaware’s severely limited anti-SLAPP statute with comprehensive protections against strategic lawsuits designed to silence public participation. 

The legislation received unanimous bipartisan support, passing both the House (38-0) and the Senate (21-0). This remarkable unity underscores how protecting free speech rights can transcend political divisions. 

Delaware’s previous anti-SLAPP law earned a dismal “D-” grade from the Institute’s Anti-SLAPP Report Card. The old statute only protected “public applicants or permittees”—those involved in zoning or licensing matters—leaving most Delawareans vulnerable to intimidating lawsuits designed to chill free speech. 

With UPEPA, Delaware now provides robust protections for all speech on matters of public concern, dramatically expanding coverage beyond the previous law’s extremely limited scope.  As a result, Delaware’s updated score is now an A+. 

The legislation includes critical improvements absent from Delaware’s previous law: 

• Automatic Stay of Proceedings: UPEPA suspends all court proceedings and discovery when an anti-SLAPP motion is filed, preventing expensive discovery processes from intimidating defendants. 

• Expedited Resolution: Courts must generally hear anti-SLAPP motions within 60 days and rule within 60 days, ensuring swift resolution. 

• Mandatory Fee-Shifting: Courts are now required to award attorney fees and costs to prevailing defendants, providing a real deterrent effect against frivolous lawsuits. 

• Right to Interlocutory Appeal: Defendants gain automatic right to appeal adverse rulings, a protection entirely absent from Delaware’s previous statute. 

The new law also provides mandatory punitive damages if the movant demonstrates “that the responding party’s cause of action was commenced or continued for the purpose of harassing, intimidating, punishing, or otherwise maliciously inhibiting the moving party’s free exercise of speech, petition, or association rights.” 

Strategic lawsuits against public participation weaponize the legal system to silence critics and ordinary citizens who speak out on matters of public concern. Whether posting opinions about public policy, writing online reviews, speaking at town halls, or reporting on community issues, citizens should not face financially devastating litigation designed to punish public discourse. 

We extend heartfelt appreciation to Senator Spiros Mantzavinos for his leadership in as the primary sponsor of this essential legislation as well as Senators Brian Pettyjohn, Bryan Townsend and Representatives Frank Burns, and Daniel Short, who were original sponsors. We thank Governor Meyer for signing this bill into law, ensuring Delaware citizens can confidently participate in public discourse without fear of legal intimidation. 

Thanks to the ACLU of Delaware, the Caesar Rodney Institute, and the Uniform Law Commission, all of which helped to achieve this hard-fought victory by highlighting the inadequacies of Delaware’s previous law and advocating for comprehensive reform. 

As Delaware joins the growing number of states that are dramatically improving their existing anti-SLAPP regimes, we celebrate this transformative step forward for free speech. By deterring meritless lawsuits designed to silence public participation, Delaware has created an environment where citizens can engage more freely in democratic discourse—speaking truth to power, holding institutions accountable, and contributing to the robust public debate essential to our republic.