{"id":24630,"date":"2020-09-19T12:46:50","date_gmt":"2020-09-19T19:46:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/?p=24630"},"modified":"2020-10-30T18:43:27","modified_gmt":"2020-10-31T01:43:27","slug":"vital-vegas-files-anti-slapp-motion-in-defamation-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/vital-vegas-files-anti-slapp-motion-in-defamation-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Vital Vegas Files Anti-SLAPP Motion in Defamation Lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In case you missed it, we were sued by Sahara casino for a rumor we shared about the possible closure of the Las Vegas resort.<\/p>\n

After our story went live, Sahara reached out to express concerns, and as a courtesy, we did a retraction. Apparently, that didn’t satisfy Sahara.<\/p>\n

Sahara sued for “defamation.” Here’s the lawsuit<\/a> (.pdf format).<\/p>\n

While we bent over backwards to work with Sahara, we weren’t willing to just bend over.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The First Amendment: Still a thing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We sought out representation, and hired the attorney who helped draft Nevada’s anti-SLAPP statute, Marc Randazza. Randazza is one of the foremost First Amendment lawyers in the country.<\/p>\n

Put simply, Nevada’s anti-SLAPP law protects free speech.<\/p>\n

SLAPP stands for “strategic lawsuits against public participation,” and SLAPP suits are often used to intimidate and silence critics through expensive legal proceedings.<\/p>\n

Wikipedia says, “The plaintiff’s goals are accomplished if the defendant succumbs to fear, intimidation, mounting legal costs or simple exhaustion and abandons the criticism.”<\/p>\n

Anti-SLAPP laws are intended to prevent people or companies from threats of groundless defamation cases.<\/p>\n

So, on Sep. 18, 2020, we filed an anti-SLAPP motion<\/a> (.pdf format).<\/p>\n

We think the anti-SLAPP motion is a masterpiece, although it’s possible we’re biased.<\/p>\n

We think this motion speaks for itself.<\/p>\n

\"\"
If you think the law is boring, you’ve never satisfied the first prong. Just saying.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A key component of the motion is something called “actual malice.”<\/p>\n

Defamation has to meet certain criteria: Our story would have had to be published with: 1) knowledge it was false or, 2) reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.<\/p>\n

Neither of those things is even remotely true.<\/p>\n

It’s unfortunate Sahara felt it was necessary to go this route. We’ve always been a fan of the place and have rooted for it to succeed. We certainly have never rooted for it to close.<\/p>\n

At this point, it’s not really about whether Sahara might close or not. It’s about free speech.<\/p>\n

We hold the First Amendment in extraordinarily high regard, and we think it’s worth fighting for.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned, and thanks for all the kind words of support during this surreal saga.<\/p>\n

Update (10\/20\/20): A judge granted our anti-SLAPP motion<\/a> and the case has been dismissed. Turns out, free speech is worth fighting for.<\/p>\n

\"Anti-Slapp
Some of our favorite boom of 2020.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In case you missed it, we were sued by Sahara casino for a rumor we shared about the possible closure of the Las Vegas resort. After our story went live, Sahara reached out to express concerns, and as a courtesy, we did a retraction. Apparently, that didn’t satisfy Sahara. Sahara sued for “defamation.” Here’s the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24630","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vegas"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nVital Vegas Files Anti-SLAPP Motion in Defamation Lawsuit<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While we bent over backwards to work with Sahara, we weren't willing to just bend over.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/vital-vegas-files-anti-slapp-motion-in-defamation-lawsuit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vital Vegas Files Anti-SLAPP Motion in Defamation Lawsuit\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"While we bent over backwards to work with Sahara, we weren't willing to just bend over.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/vital-vegas-files-anti-slapp-motion-in-defamation-lawsuit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Vital Vegas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VitalLasVegas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-19T19:46:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-31T01:43:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/vitalvegas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/no_censorship3.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"533\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta 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