Crime & Law
Illinois Lawmakers Pass Measure to Bolster Press Protections Against Lawsuits
The Illinois Capitol in Springfield pictured in May 2024. (Capitol News Illinois file photo)
By Ben Szalinski and Jade Aubrey, Capitol News Illinois
Gov. JB Pritzker will have hundreds of bills to review after state lawmakers concluded their spring session, including a measure to bolster news media protections against lawsuits.
Senate Bill 1181 explicitly adds news media as an entity protected under the state’s Citizen Participation Act, which prohibits “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” or SLAPPs. It passed the House 75-38 and the Senate 47-10.
It was spurred by a recent state Supreme Court ruling that allowed a defamation suit filed by a former government employee against the Chicago Sun-Times to progress.
The Supreme Court’s ruling in that case differentiated “investigative” reporting from the paper’s coverage of a state inspector general’s investigation into the Illinois Property Tax Appeals Board’s executive director.
Read More: Responding to State Supreme Court, Lawmakers Look to Expand Lawsuit Protections for Press
Lawyers from the Chicago Sun-Times sought to use the Citizen Protection Act to dismiss the executive director’s 2021 lawsuit against the paper, which contended it mischaracterized the inspector general’s investigation.
But the Supreme Court declined, ruling the paper’s coverage lacked any intent to elicit action or a solution from the government – which was needed to apply SLAPP protections – because the coverage was not investigative in nature.
“We are simply holding that the (Citizen Participation) Act specifically protects government participation and does not encompass all media reports on matters of public concern,” Justice David K. Overstreet wrote in the opinion.
SB 1181 directly addresses that sentiment. The bill states, “The press opining, reporting, or investigating matters of public concern is participating and communicating with the government,” meaning organizations doing so would be protected under the law if the bill is signed. It would apply to actions taken after Jan. 1, 2026.
The measure also provides that all legal proceedings in a case would be paused while a party’s Citizen Participation Act lawsuit motion progresses in court.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
