SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation)
- Artist/Author/Producer: Jacqueline A. Sommer and Linda Tanner
- Confronting Bodies: Bunker Resource Recycling and Reclamation, Inc.--DECOM
- Dates of action: February,1988
- Location: Missouri
- Description of the Art Work
- Jacqueline A. Sommer and Linda Tanner two private citizens of
Missouri wrote letters to their local papers which criticized "the
operation of an infectious waste incinerator by Bunker Resource,
Recycling and Reclamation, Inc.--a subsidiary of the Canadian firm DECOM
Medical Waste Systems, Inc. Sommer's letter was published in the Quad
County Journal. Tanner's letter was never published, but the editor had
given it to the mayor, who had an economic interest in success of the
plant." The Fund For Free Expression Vol. 1 Issue 6 Pg. 7
- Description of incident
- DECOM responded by filing SLAPPs suits (Strategic Lawsuits
Against Public Participation) against the two women. In cases such as
this "individuals and community groups across the United States are being
sued for exercising their constitutional 'right of petition.' These suits,
known as "SLAPPs," (for Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation),
are being brought by corporations, real estate developers, government
officials, and others against who oppose them on issues of public
concern--usually relating to the environment or development, but also
encompassing such issues as government spending, corruption, and prison
construction. SLAPP targets have been sued for engaging in a wide variety
of speech and expression activities: writing a letter to the editor,
calling a public official, conducting a public campaign, speaking at a
town meeting, testifying before Congress or state legislatures, and
filing public-interest lawsuits."
- Results of incident
- "In addition to the suit, (DECOM) officials led a smear campaign
against Tanner which resulted in the loss of her job as a medical
technician at a local hospital. The board of the hospital was told that
Tanner was bringing live AIDS viruses into the hospital for examination.
She was fired without a hearing, despite support from hospital
administrators, who said claims about her were absurd.
DECOM's suits were unsuccessful and both women countersued
(SLAPP-back). In May (1991) a jury awarded Linda Tanner $86 million in
damages... The award included a $10 million personal judgment against the
owner of the company for the role he played in having Tanner fired." The
Fund For Free Expression Vol. 1 Issue 6 Pg. 7
Source: The Fund For Free Expression , N.Y.C.,Vol. 1 Issue 6 Pg. 1-7