Lafferty v. Jones

Summary

The court affirmed sanctions that barred the defendants from pursuing their statutory special motions to dismiss. It held that sanctions based on a litigant's threatening and harassing extrajudicial speech did not violate the First Amendment because the speech posed an imminent and likely threat to the administration of justice, and that the sanctions were also proportionate to repeated discovery violations. The court further rejected the defendants' claim that they lacked adequate notice and an opportunity to be heard.