Imagine you get a call from your longtime client who owns a small business. A local city councilwoman sued him after he criticized her for awarding city contracts to her rich friends instead of who would best serve the public. Knowing money is tight, your client is worried about the expense he will incur defending himself. You tell your client Texas law gives him a weapon to defend his First Amendment rights against the lawsuit: The Texas Citizens Participation Act, which allows courts to swiftly dismiss lawsuits based on exercises of expressive freedom and award successful defendants their costs and attorney’s fees.

Nearly half-a-century ago, the U.S. Supreme Court explained the First Amendment embodies our “profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide open.” New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 270 (1964), Even so, as the Texas Supreme Court recently observed, “[e]ach generation’s struggles and fears . . . test our society’s commitment” to free speech. Lilith Fund for Reprod. Equality v. Dickson, 662 S.W.3d 355, 362 (Tex. 2023). It is the distinct role of lawyers, judges, and elected officials, therefore, to reaffirm our Nation’s commitment to free expression, especially when individuals would prefer to silence their opponents rather than rely on the marketplace of ideas.