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SLAPP ‘em down

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* From the subscribers-only Capitol Fax on May 21st…

Back in February, a LaSalle County judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by former Rep. Jerry Long (R-Streator) against his 2018 general election opponent Lance Yednock (D-Ottawa). Rep. Yednock won the race, but Long claimed a Yednock ad defamed him for claiming he was being investigated for sexual harassment.

The problem with Long’s suit, Judge Eugene Daugherity pointed out back then, was that Long told reporters last fall that the House Republicans were looking into a sexual harassment claim. The House Republicans, you will recall, walked away from Long’s Tier One campaign after a staffer lodged a private complaint against him.

Rep. Yednock claimed throughout the lawsuit that Long was illegally using the legal process to retaliate against him for participating in the democratic process. Illinois has a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation Statute (SLAPP) on the books, although courts have watered it down over the years.

After the case was dismissed, Yednock pursued Long for his attorney’s fees. Last week, Judge Daugherity cited the SLAPP statute in awarding Yednock nearly $17,000 in attorney’s fees to Yednock.

Hopefully, this ruling will chill some of these campaign-related lawsuits that are becoming all too common.

* More goofy lawsuits bit the dust last week…

On Wednesday, a Kane County judge threw out a lawsuit brought by two failed McHenry County Board candidates, Ersel Schuster and Orville Brettman, who had filed a defamation suit over campaign literature opposing them in 2018. The flyer was financed by a “dark money” group called the Illinois Integrity Fund, which has ties to County Board Chairman Jack Franks.

But the judge ruled that the facts on which the flyer’s claims were based – that an online threat against Franks had been traced to a computer at Schuster’s home, and that Brettman had been a party to violent acts in the 1970s with a group called the Legion of Justice – probably were true.

The allegations against Schuster and Brettman had been recorded in public records and reported in the Northwest Herald, among other news outlets. They were public knowledge.

On Friday, two additional County Board candidates who had filed lawsuits – Chuck Wheeler and Michael Rein – withdrew their suits against the same group and agreed to pay the Illinois Integrity Fund’s lawyer fees.

* The judge ruled the lawsuit was in violation of Illinois’ Anti-SLAPP laws…

In a joint lawsuit filed Feb. 19, Schuster and Brettman alleged the flyers wrongfully accused them of having histories of “criminality and hate.” The flyers referenced news articles reporting Brettman’s alleged ties to a paramilitary group called the “Legion of Justice,” and a police investigation tied to an online death threat that was traced back to Schuster’s home. […]

Last year, an apparent online threat against Franks’ life led police to Schuster’s home, where officials say the IP addresses associated with the comment originated. […]

According to the transcript from Brettman’s 1975 testimony before a Cook County grand jury, the former Carpentersville village president and police officer was involved in a right-wing extremist group that was responsible for several raids and the bombing of an Elgin church.

If you don’t want somebody sending out mailers about your sordid past, don’t run for office. And, for crying out loud, don’t sue when you’re busted. It’ll cost you.

* Meanwhile, this motion was filed in February…

Respondent in Discovery, BETH QUINN, (”Respondent”) request that this Court dismiss Plaintiff David Krupa’s Complaint under 2-619(a)(9) of the Code of Civil Procedure and the Illinois Citizens Participation Act (735 ILCS 110/15). In support, Respondent states as follows:

Plaintiff is an aldermanic candidate running against Respondent’s husband Alderman Marty Quinn. On February 1, 2019, Defendants the Chicago Teachers Union (“CTU”) and Jeanine Muir (“Muir”) published a letter describing harassing conduct committed by Plaintiff (the “Letter”). The Letter stated that Plaintiff “demonstrates complete disregard for women and a pattern of judgment that disqualifies him from holding public office. I respectfully request that you do not vote for Mr. Krupa in the upcoming municipal election.”

In this lawsuit, Plaintiff is suing CTU and Ms. Muir for alleged defamation over statements in the Letter. Even though the Letter contains no indication that Respondent had any involvement whatsoever in its publication, Plaintiff also named Respondent as a respondent in discovery, purely speculating that Respondent must have been somehow involved, yet failing to allege any specific facts to support such speculation. Plaintiff’s Complaint also does not claim that this Respondent, or any of the other named respondents in discovery, made any other allegedly defamatory statements.

Plaintiff’s lawsuit is nothing more than an abuse of the judicial process to: (1) attempt to stifle Respondent’s’ First Amendment rights in the weeks leading up to the Chicago municipal election; (2) retaliate against Defendants Chicago Teachers Union and Ms. Muir for opposing his candidacy: and (3) to baselessly name Respondent in a blatant attempt at harassment, since she is the wife of Alderman Quinn, his election opponent, in order to attract media attention to himself. This lawsuit is clearly nothing more than a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (“SLAPP”) that must be dismissed under the Citizen Participation Act (“the Act”).

The judge has not yet ruled on the SLAPP motion, but on August 12th he dismissed the complaint against Mrs. Quinn. The plaintiffs are, however, expected to refile.

…Adding… I was looking for something else and found Beth Quinn’s statement at the time the motion was filed…

I was shocked and disturbed by the allegations Tony Peraica leveled at me. I am not involved in politics but was inappropriately dragged in through a ploy to attack my husband. I don’t want to be involved in this fight, but I also will not stand by while my reputation is attacked. I am hopeful the judge sees this situation for what it is - Tony Peraica enabling David Krupa, a known aggressor and bully of women, and not a legitimate complaint against me.”

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 12:33 pm

Comments

How people have so much money for these idiotic lawsuits baffles me. Taking a vacation and having a few umbrella drinks on the beach would be so much cheaper.

How is that young guy Krupa ever going to pay all those legal fees he’s already racked up? He’ll be paying for them all his life.

Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 12:43 pm
SLAPP ‘em down. Krupa is a horrible person, and I hope he gets what is coming to him too.

Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 12:48 pm
Narcissists will do almost anything to avenge a
narcissistic injury

Comment by Honeybear Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 12:49 pm
Go after an elected official all you want, but going after the wife is just shameful. Pretty low blow by Krupa and Peraica.

Comment by Glum Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 12:56 pm
“How is that young guy Krupa ever going to pay all those legal fees he’s already racked up? He’ll be paying for them all his life.”

I’d bet that Tony Peraica’s firm is doing this pro bono.

Comment by Anon E Moose Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 1:04 pm
I contend that it be the lawyers who should be SLAPP’d. They agreed to take on and file ridiculous cases. The lawyers bog down the courts with fishing expeditions and calls for discovery and depositions. If the courts were to sanction them for filing these cases in the first place, we would see a lot less of them and not just the political cases.

Comment by Colin O'Scopy Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 1:04 pm
I think these people get so used to lying that they think they can lie their way out of anything.

Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 1:44 pm
Paging Jason Gonzalez, Jason Gonzalez to this post. Bring Blair Hull’s wallet.

Comment by 4th Tuesday, Aug 27, 19 @ 5:45 pm