Letter: Little Compton should stand with citizens against ’SLAPP’ suit

Posted 11/12/17

To the editor:

Dear President Mushen and members of the Town Council:

We are writing to you to request your support as an “Intervenor” in a matter involving Little Compton residents and …

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Letter: Little Compton should stand with citizens against ’SLAPP’ suit

Posted

To the editor:

Dear President Mushen and members of the Town Council:

We are writing to you to request your support as an “Intervenor” in a matter involving Little Compton residents and their right to express their opinions and argue for their interests in matters affecting our community.

In petitioning the council in this matter, we are seeking solely for you to convey your support for Christina Carlson and Brian and Natalie Eliason to bring their legal actions for adjudication in Newport Superior Court. We acknowledge that the Town of Little Compton does not agree with the merits of their claims. We ask only that you convey to the Newport Superior Court that you support the right of Little Compton citizens to bring non-frivolous claims on matters of public interest to the court for impartial adjudication.

Carolyn’s Sakonnet Vineyards has made our fellow townspeople defendants in an effort to intimidate and coerce citizens and their supporters from legally contesting matters pertaining to the permissible operations of and entertainment licenses for the vineyard.

Defendants Carlson and Eliason are now seeking relief from this “Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation” counterclaim brought by Alex & Ani entities. This is nothing less than an attempt to “gag” Little Compton citizens by means of intimidation. Every member of our community should be outraged, irrespective of one’s personal view of the merits of the original claims filed by the vineyard neighbors. Carolyn’s Sakonnet Vineyards’ threats demand that we defend our community and its members’ rights to speak out on matters of public interest. Unless we want to live in a world where it is safe only to “keep your head down and your mouth shut,” we all need to stand against this abusive and coercive litigation by ruthless, powerful commercial interests.

We are fortunate that Rhode Island is one of a growing number of states that have passed legislation aimed at encouraging and protecting public participation in community and state matters as a right under both the Rhode Island and United States Constitutions. RI General Law Section 9-33-1 to 9-33-4, “Limits on Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation” was passed by the General Assembly in 1995 and is commonly known as the “Anti-SLAPP Statute.” The right of the Town Council to act as a supporting “Intervenor” is described in Section 9-33-3 of the Statute.

We respectfully ask the Town Council to affirm to the court in writing that it stands with the community in believing that non-frivolous disputes may be brought to court for impartial determination. This is an absolute right of members of our community and should be defended by all of us, including our elected officials, regardless of how they may view the merits of the underlying lawsuit. We simply ask the Town Council to declare either their support for Ms. Carlson’s and the Eliasons’ right to file their Anti-SLAPP motion or that they state that they oppose the fundamental constitutional and statutory rights of Little Compton citizens to petition their government and to engage in free speech. The existence of a separate legal dispute between the vineyard neighbors and the Town Council is not the subject of the Anti-SLAPP motion to dismiss the Alex & Ani entities’ countersuit.

Thank you in advance for your thoughtful consideration of this matter of vital importance to the vibrancy of our town government and to the continued participation of Little Compton citizens in civic affairs.

We request a public discussion of our petition for your support of citizens rights (as contained in this letter) at the November 16 Town Council Meeting, ahead of the December 4 motion hearing in Superior Court. In addition, we request that this letter be included by reference on the public portion of the November 16, 2017 Meeting Agenda and that a copy of the letter be made a part of the permanent record of the Meeting by including it with the Meeting Minutes.

Thank you for your consideration and cooperation.

Carl Acebes, Chris Burns, Brett Haire, Mike Hudner, and Dick Rudick

Little Compton

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