Anti-SLAPP protection

Iowa does not have anti-SLAPP law.

Helpful cases

Iowa has never had an anti-SLAPP law, nor has any state court explicitly cited SLAPP-related concerns in a decision. These three cases indicate ways Iowa courts have dealt with frivolous defamation lawsuits.

Malin v. Lee Enterprises (2024)

Craig Malin, the former Davenport city administrator, sued Lee Enterprises, its Davenport newspaper the Quad-City Times, and two of its writers, alleging defamation. Malin claimed the newspaper published defamatory articles about his tenure and actions as a city administrator in 2014-2015 and interfered with his employment contract. In 2015, Lee Enterprises published articles exposing Malin’s and Davenport’s former city attorney’s involvement in advancing taxpayer-funded groundwork for a future casino project without authorization from the city council and mayor. This reporting led to Malin’s departure from office. The district court granted Lee Enterprises summary judgment on the libel claim, dismissing it without a trial. Malin appealed, but the Iowa Court of Appeals upheld the district court’s summary judgment in favor of the defendants, concluding that Malin failed to prove that the statements were false and defamatory. The court also argued that the articles were protected under the fair report privilege and that Malin did not demonstrate actual malice or harm.

Bauer v. Brinkman (2020)

Richard Bauer filed a defamation lawsuit against Bradley R. Brinkman after Brinkman called Bauer a “slumlord” and a “piece of shit” on Facebook. Bauer claimed these statements were defamatory. The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Brinkman, determining that his statements were expressions of opinion rather than assertions of fact. The court emphasized that opinions are protected under the First Amendment and cannot be the basis for a defamation claim. The court also considered the context in which the statements were made, noting that social media is a platform where statements are often seen as opinions rather than factual assertions. Therefore, the statements made by Brinkman on Facebook did not constitute defamation under the law, and the court affirmed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of Brinkman.

Caveman Adventures UN, Ltd. v. Press-Citizen Co., Inc. (2001)

Caveman Adventures, running the electronics store The Electronics Cave, sued the Iowa City Press-Citizen for libel after a competitor, Woodburn Electronics, published an advertisement in this newspaper accusing The Electronics Cave of false and misleading advertising designed to deceive the customers. The jury awarded substantial punitive damages to The Electronics Cave, but the Press-Citizen appealed, arguing there was insufficient evidence of actual malice, injury to reputation, and that the punitive damages were excessive. The Iowa Supreme Court reversed the district court’s judgment, agreeing with the Press-Citizen that the evidence did not support the jury’s finding of actual malice. The court held that the advertisement’s content was not published with knowledge of its falsity or reckless disregard for the truth, as required by the U.S. Supreme Court’s New York Times Co. v. Sullivan standard. The court concluded that the punitive damages awarded to The Electronics Cave were unjustified, therefore the case was remanded for judgment in favor of the Press-Citizen.

Legislative activity

In 2023, Iowa  House File 117, the proposed anti-SLAPP law, passed the Iowa House with overwhelming support, receiving a vote of 94 to 1. Despite this strong backing, and the fact that the subcommittee recommended the passage, the bill’s process stalled in the Senate.

Of note

Iowa is one of 17 states that does not have anti-SLAPP law.