It took outspoken citizens, free speech advocates, and Pennsylvania lawmakers more than a decade to pass the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act prohibiting malicious lawsuits that aim to inhibit speech protected by the First Amendment. In July, 2024, the bill was signed into law by Governor Josh Shapiro with unanimous, bi-partisan support of both the PA House and the PA Senate. 18 months later, full implementation of the law is stalled in the PA Supreme Court. It may take pressure from sponsoring lawmakers, media and free speech advocates to urge the PA Supreme Court to fully activate the full protections of the law for Pennsylvania citizens. by Sean Patrick Kelly on Day 292 of DonutNV v Sean Kelly, UnhappyFranchisee.com)
(UnhappyFranchisee.Com) LNP / LancasterOnline.Com is the first Pennsylvania media outlet to call attention to an overwhelmingly popular law that appears to be stalled in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
Lawmakers, media outlets, free speech advocates and concerned citizens: Please urge the PA Supreme Court to prioritize full implementation if this crucial law.
Thank you, LNP / LancasterOnline.Com, Opinion Editor Suzanne Cassidy, and Paula Knudsen Burke, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press for the opportunity to share my opinion.
State Supreme Court must act on free speech law aimed at curbing abusive lawsuits [column]
SEAN PATRICK KELLY | FOR LNP | LANCASTERONLINE Published 11/23/25
This holiday season, let’s take a momentary break from constant political bickering and divisiveness to celebrate a legislative victory accomplished when Republicans and Democrats, folks from the right and left, found common ground and worked together for the common good.
Sean Patrick Kelly is a Lancaster-based writer and publisher of the franchise industry watchdog site UnhappyFranchisee.com
That common ground was something we all can agree on: that no millionaire, corporation or organization should be allowed to chill free speech with malicious, meritless lawsuits.
We don’t condone or tolerate bullying in the schoolyard, and we won’t tolerate it in the legal system, either.
That was one of the messages sent when, in July 2024, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed the bipartisan Uniform Public Expression Protection Act into law.
This victory was the result of more than a decade of efforts by lawmakers, free speech advocacy groups and media organizations on both sides of the political spectrum.
Free speech advocates rejoiced! A decade of hard work and advocacy had paid off! Democrats and Republicans had accomplished something important … together!
The Uniform Public Expression Protection Act provides a legal shield against the meritless, bullying lawsuits that aim to inhibit speech protected by the First Amendment. These harassing and intimidatory lawsuits are known as “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” or SLAPPs.
As of June 2025, 38 states and the District of Columbia had anti-SLAPP laws, according to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
Pennsylvania’s Uniform Public Expression Protection Act aims to counter abusive litigation in the following ways:
— The law contains a quick escape hatch. It creates a “special motion to dismiss” that allows a defendant in a SLAPP suit to ask a judge to throw out the case within 60 days of being served.
— It stops the bleeding. When this motion is filed, all other legal proceedings and expensive evidence gathering (discovery) are put on hold. This prevents the primary “weapon” of the SLAPP suit — the high cost — from being used to silence people.
— It flips the script. If the judge agrees that the lawsuit is a SLAPP suit, the plaintiff (the person who filed the baseless suit) must pay the defendant’s attorney fees and other legal costs. This financial risk serves as an effective deterrent against filing frivolous lawsuits.
Unfortunately, we declared victory prematurely last year.
In the first 10 years of publishing UnhappyFranchisee.com, an online forum dedicated to discussing the franchise industry, I had experienced a number of legal challenges, including one baseless $35 million SLAPP suit in 2014 that I quickly won.
The lawsuit was filed in California, which had strong anti-SLAPP protections in place. Within three months, Superior Court Judge Richard J. Henderson ruled in my favor, dismissed the lawsuit and ordered the plaintiff to pay my attorney’s fees.
In his order, Judge Henderson ruled that the opinions on my site are protected speech and that UnhappyFranchisee.com is a “public forum” that serves the public interest.
After that well-publicized victory, I remained lawsuit-free for more than a decade.
When the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act became law in 2024 in my home state, I felt like my years of fending off frivolous threats and challenges were far behind me.
To my surprise, earlier this year, I was hit with not one, but two lawsuits seeking to suppress opinions expressed on my site.
My first call for assistance (as always) was to an invaluable nonprofit resource, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which assigned Pennsylvania-based attorney Paula Knudsen Burke to assist me. Through Paula’s networking, I was referred to an amazing local attorney, Brandon Harter of Lancaster Tech Law, who agreed to represent me.
Because the commonwealth’s anti-SLAPP law had been in place for seven months, I was confident we’d have a quick resolution. Unfortunately, I learned that key provisions of the law, including the early review and possible dismissal as a SLAPP, could not be used until the Pennsylvania Supreme Court promulgated its rules and procedures.
There was no way of knowing how long that might take.
As I write this, I’m at Day 286 of my lawsuit — more than nine stressful and expensive months — with no end in sight.
Having a law that can only partially be used reminds me of the infamous “goat path” east of Lancaster, near where I live. And I am trapped on the “goat path” of free speech legislation.
The “goat path” is an abandoned 5-mile section of a proposed 11-mile bypass project that was never completed because the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation ran out of money for the project in 1977. The path was eventually given over to grazing goats and other animals.
We all need to bring attention to and urge activation of the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, lest it become the goat path of free speech legislation.
Please help urge the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to prioritize promulgating the rules of civil procedure that are needed to keep Pennsylvanian taxpayers and media SLAPP-free in 2026 and beyond.
Sean Patrick Kelly is a Lancaster-based writer and publisher of the franchise industry watchdog site UnhappyFranchisee.com. He helped launch the Auntie Anne’s Soft Pretzels franchise program and served as its first director of marketing.
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TAGS: Uniform Public Expression Protection Act, UPEPA, SLAPP, anti-SLAPP, Pennsylvania anti-SLAPP, corporate bullying, free speech, freedom of the press, bullying lawsuits, DonutNV v Sean Kelly, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Sean Kelly, Paula Knudsen Burke, DonutNV, Klehr Harrison, Harvey, Branzburg, D. Joseph Ferris, William C. Clements, Christopher J Leavell, attorney Brandon Harter, Lancaster Tech Law
