Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signs law making it easier to dismiss lawsuits targeting free speech

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed a law that will make it easier to dismiss lawsuits deemed frivolous and designed to chill free speech.

The law, House File 472targets what are known as “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” or SLAPP cases, which aren’t likely to prevail in court but seek to use the threat of an expensive legal fight to intimidate a person or news organization from exercising their First Amendment rights.

Reynolds announced the signing without comment in a May 19 news release.

Iowa joins 35 other states that have anti-SLAPP laws, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

The law passed the Iowa House and Senate unanimously earlier this year.

Rep. Steven Holt, R-Denison, has tried for years to get an anti-SLAPP law passed in Iowa after a Carroll police officer in 2018 sued the Carroll Times Herald for reporting he had sexual relationships with minors, resulting in an expensive legal battle for the paper.

The law applies to lawsuits that involve the exercise of freedom of speech, the press, petition or assembly, as well as cases that are related to communication in a governmental proceeding or about an issue under consideration by a government body.

In those cases, the law allows defendants to file a special motion for expedited relief seeking to dismiss the case within 60 days of the lawsuit being filed against them. A judge must hold a hearing on the motion no later than 60 days after it is filed, unless there is good cause for delay.

The law takes effect July 1. It will only apply to lawsuits that are filed on or after that date, meaning the motion for expedited relief is not available to defendants in any existing lawsuits.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email atsgrubermil@registermedia.comor by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on X at@grubermiller.