Devin Nunes Loses Appeal Of SLAPP Suit Against Liz Mair

By now you surely know that former Congressman and current satirical cow censor Devin Nunes has become quite well known for his series of SLAPP suits against people who made him feel bad. It started with his lawsuit against the satirical parody cow Twitter account, but that lawsuit also included political consultant Liz Mair, who has long worked for various Republican politicians, but was a semi-frequent critic of Nunes. That first lawsuit was for $250 million, but a month later he sued Mair again (along with the news organization McClatchy), this time for $150 million.

As we noted, there was no way to look at any of this other than a blatant attempt to abuse the court system to silence free speech. Which is partly why it's so ironic now that Nunes is positioning himself as a free speech protector" as the head of Donald Trump's flailing social network. It took a while (and included some weird interim rulings) but the court finally dismissed Mair from the first case.

But, because the goal of SLAPP suits is not to win, but to just drag things out and make them as annoying and as expensive as possible, Nunes and his lawyer, Steven Biss, appealed the ruling, which eventually reached Virginia's Supreme Court. However, that court has now refused to take the appeal, noting that the Court is of the opinion there is no reversible error in the judgment complained of."

In response to finally being free from this vexatious SLAPP suit, Mair released a statement:

I am pleased to announce today that the Virginia Supreme Court has refused former Rep. Nunes' petition for appeal in his $150 million lawsuit against me (one of two in which he sought a total of $400 million in damages), concluding there is no reversible error in the judgment complained of.'

I thank the Court for upholding the First Amendment and my - and all Americans' - rights of free speech.

I hope that this judgment will dissuade other government and political figures from attempting to use litigation as a cudgel to stifle free speech. This lawsuit did not succeed in silencing me, and nor should lawsuits like it be allowed to silence other Americans exercising their God-given rights to free speech especially where they do so in an effort to hold their government accountable.

While I admit to being less interesting than a fake, anonymous barnyard animal on Twitter, this case should nonetheless be firmly recorded in the history books as an instance of where our democratic republic safeguarded essential civil liberties and stood strong for freedom. I hope that it will always do so, for the benefit of all Americans."

And, yes, it did safeguard essential civil liberties, but it took almost three years to do so. Stronger anti-SLAPP laws at both the state (Virginia keeps considering a new anti-SLAPP law, but never seems to get it over the finish line) and federal levels are absolutely necessary to make sure that the Devin Nunes and Steve Bisses of the world cannot continue to drag people through such exhausting and costly experiences.