Anti-SLAPP protection

West Virginia does not have an anti-SLAPP law.

Helpful cases

West Virginia is one of several states with no anti-SLAPP law. As a result, there are few helpful cases that provide precedent for SLAPP protections. Nonetheless, these cases might be helpful to journalists facing frivolous defamation cases in West Virginia.

Harris v. Adkins (1993)

Weirton city councilman Dean Harris sued Harold Adkins for defamation after Adkins claimed Harris attempted to sabotage his upholstery store. Adkins filed a motion to dismiss the case, contending his comments were protected by the First Amendment’s right to petition. A trial court denied the defendant’s motion. Adkins appealed and the Supreme Court of West Virginia relied on the Noerr-Pennington doctrine to determine Adkins’ exercise of the right to petition was protected speech. The West Virginia justices also ruled Adkins’ right to petition was protected by Section 16 of Article III of the West Virginia Constitution, which they deemed comparable to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

Marshall County Coal Co., et al. v. John Oliver, et al (2018)

The satirical television program Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, aired a segment in June 2017 that discussed CEO of Murray Energy Corporation Robert Murray and his problems with federal safety regulators as well as his attempts to use defamation to silence his critics. Murray sued Oliver and Home Box Office (HBO) for defamation among other claims. Oliver and HBO filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the segment’s statements were either true or jokes. A trial court agreed and the case was dismissed with prejudice.

Giles v. Kanawha County Board of Education (2018)

Former Capital High principal Clinton Giles sued the Kanawha County Board of Education after school board member Peter Thaw denounced Giles’ conduct at a board meeting for failing to report an alleged sexual assault of one student by another at his school and called him an “insubordinate” to local news media. In response, the Board filed a motion to dismiss under West Virginia Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). The Board contended Giles failed to state a legitimate claim. A trial court agreed, dismissing Giles’ claim. Giles appealed to the Supreme Court of West Virginia, which upheld the lower court’s decision. The court concluded the board member’s statements reflected feeling and opinion and “did not include provably false assertions of fact.”

Legislative activity

West Virginia legislators considered SB 469 in 2024. The bill was a version of the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act that has passed in several other states. State Republican Senator Michael A. Oliverio introduced the bill.

Of note

West Virginia’s neighbor Kentucky enacted provisions of the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act in 2022. West Virginia’s anti-SLAPP protections received an F from the Institute for Free Speech.