Article Summary

The Citizen Participation Act now explicitly protects news reporting from “strategic lawsuits against public participation.”

The Illinois Supreme Court had previously ruled that news reporting itself wasn’t covered if it was not investigative in nature or eliciting participation in government.

Lawmakers filed the bill in response to that court ruling, and Gov. JB Pritzker said the measure was designed to “protect and empower Illinois journalists.”

This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on the story.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Capitol News Illinois) – A state law designed to prevent lawsuits that curtail public participation in government now explicitly protects the news media.

Gov. JB Pritzker signed a measure into law on Thursday that was spurred by

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