The legislature finds and declares that there has been a disturbing increase in lawsuits brought primarily to chill the valid exercise of the constitutional rights of freedom of speech and petition for redress of grievances. The legislature finds and declares that it is in the public interest to encourage continued participation in matters of public significance, and that this participation should not be chilled through abuse of the judicial process. To this end, it is the intention of the legislature that the Article enacted pursuant to this Act shall be construed broadly.
A cause of action against a person arising from any act of that person in furtherance of the person's right of petition or free speech under the United States or Louisiana Constitution in connection with a public issue shall be subject to a special motion to strike, unless the court determines that the plaintiff has established a probability of success on the claim.
“Final” is not a clear one-purpose word; it is slithery, tricky. It does not have a meaning constant in all contexts. What was said as to “final” orders a half century ago still holds: The cases, it must be conceded, are not altogether harmonious. There is, still, too little finality about “finality.” “A final decision” is not necessarily the ultimate judgment or decree completely closing up a proceeding. But it is not easy to determine what decisions short of that point are final.
If the court determines that the plaintiff has established a probability of success on the claim, neither that determination nor the fact of that determination shall be admissible in evidence at any later stage of the proceeding, and no burden of proof or degree of proof otherwise applicable shall be affected by that determination.
Because of this essential requirement, almost all denials of motions to dismiss are not immediately appealable. If, on appeal from a final judgment, an appellate court finds that the motion to dismiss should have [been] granted, it can direct the lower court to dismiss. The rights of the movant will have been vindicated, although after the movant has suffered the expense and delay of trial. As we have said before, however, this sort of injury follows in every denial of a motion to dismiss a complaint and does not justify an exception to the final-judgment rule.
there is value—to all but the most unusual litigant—in triumphing before trial, rather than after it, regardless of the substance of the winning claim. But this truism is not to be confused with the quite distinct proposition that certain claims (because of the substance of the rights entailed, rather than the advantage to a litigant in winning his claim sooner) should be resolved before trial.
In each case, some particular value of a high order was marshaled in support of the interest in avoiding trial: honoring the separation of powers, preserving the efficiency of government and the initiative of its officials, respecting a State's dignitary interests, and mitigating the government's advantage over the individual. That is, it is not mere avoidance of a trial, but avoidance of a trial that would imperil a substantial public interest, that counts when asking whether an order is “effectively” unreviewable if review is to be left until later.
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