Overview
- Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell filed a special action seeking to declare Arizona’s anti-SLAPP statute unconstitutional or to block its use in criminal cases and to reverse a justice-court ruling in the ASU protest case.
- Attorney General Kris Mayes submitted a supporting brief, calling the criminal anti-SLAPP expansion seriously flawed with sweeping consequences for prosecutions.
- Arizona uniquely extended anti-SLAPP protections to criminal cases in 2022 under Gov. Doug Ducey, allowing defendants to seek dismissal based on government motivation.
- Justice Court Judge Tyler Kissell found the first step of the anti-SLAPP test satisfied and set a five-day hearing for Nov. 17 that could require prosecutors to testify, but its status now depends on superior-court action.
- Prosecutors argue the law violates separation of powers, the Victims’ Bill of Rights, and procedural rules and is vague, while defense filings say the statute focuses on whether charges were retaliatory; prior uses include an unsuccessful bid by Kari Lake and motions by some defendants in the fake electors case.