It’s official: the times are changing! HB 4045 Is LAW, and speech is stronger today.
Michigan just closed a door that has been used for years to silence people through fear, expense, and exhaustion.
House Bill 4045, Michigan’s anti-SLAPP legislation, has passed both chambers unanimously and has been signed into law. It takes effect in April. With that, Michigan becomes the 39th state to adopt statutory protections against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation.
This is not symbolic, this is HUGE. Structural, even.
And for people who have been targeted for speaking out, reporting misconduct, testifying, organizing, or simply refusing to stay quiet, this is a real win.
What anti-SLAPP laws are actually about
SLAPP suits are not filed to win on the merits. They are filed explicitly to punish speech.
They work by forcing defendants to spend time, money, and emotional energy defending against claims that are often weak, retaliatory, or entirely baseless. The goal is not justice. The goal is silence.
Anti-SLAPP laws interrupt that strategy. They give courts a tool to identify speech-chilling lawsuits early, dismiss them quickly, and shift fees back onto the party using the courts as a weapon.
That changes the power dynamic.
What HB 4045 Does
Michigan’s law is modeled on the Uniform Law Commission Public Expression Protection Act, a framework designed to provide clear, balanced protections for lawful speech and petitioning activity.
Under HB 4045, people sued for engaging in protected public expression can:
- file an early motion to dismiss
- pause costly discovery while the motion is decided
- recover attorney fees and costs if the SLAPP claim is dismissed
In plain terms: the law makes it much harder to use litigation as a harassment tactic and much easier for people to defend their right to speak.
Why This Matters in Michigan
Michigan has needed this for a very, very long time.
Whistleblowers, journalists, writers, advocates, parents, and even ordinary residents have been dragged into court not because they lied, but because they spoke. The absence of an anti-SLAPP statute meant that even obviously retaliatory cases could grind on for months or years.
That silence was expensive. It was strategic. And sadly, it worked.
But HB 4045 changes the math. Now, individuals who file lawsuits solely to intimidate critics risk paying for that decision themselves.
This Did Not Happen by Accident
This law passed because people showed up.
Survivors submitted testimony. Journalists explained how legal threats distort reporting. Advocates documented patterns of harassment. I was even able to share my story. And for once, I felt seen by Michigan Legislator. They legitimately listened.
State Representative Kara Hope led this effort through the legislature, and it moved with rare unanimity. That matters. It signals a shared understanding that free speech protection is not partisan; it is foundational.
I am so proud that I had an opportunity to weigh in and support this important bill, and now law.
Why April matters
The law takes effect in April. That date matters for anyone currently weighing whether to speak, publish, testify, or challenge powerful interests.
It also matters for courts. Judges will soon have a clear statutory framework to address retaliatory lawsuits early, instead of forcing defendants to survive procedural trench warfare first.
What this Win Does and Does Not Do
It does not protect harassment or knowingly false statements. For example, someone may not make up blatant lies and publish them without evidence.
What it protects is good-faith participation in public life.
It protects the act of raising concerns, testimony, reporting, and of course, organizing. It draws a bright line between accountability and abuse of the legal system.
Why this is personal for so many people
For those who have been targeted by SLAPP tactics, this law represents something more than a policy change.
It represents acknowledgment.
Acknowledgment that the harm was real, the system allowed it, and that speech should not require a war chest to survive. Sometimes progress looks like sweeping reform. Sometimes it looks like a single door quietly closing behind a bad practice.
This is the latter. And it matters just as much.
Michigan FINALLY caught up. And Moved Forward.
Anti-SLAPP protections are now part of Michigan law.
That means fewer people will be bullied into silence. It means public participation is safer. It means the courts are less available as a tool of retaliation.
This is what structural reform looks like when it actually works.
Sources and References
- Michigan House Bill 4045 (Anti-SLAPP legislation)
- Public Expression Protection Act, Uniform Law Commission
