Wisconsin

This guide was authored by Zivile Raskauskaite, Skye Lucas, and Sara George, working with Professor Jared Schroeder at the Missouri School of Journalism. Grant support for this project was provided by the Society to Protect Journalists and the Reynolds Journalism Institute. 

Anti-SLAPP protection: Wisconsin does not have anti-SLAPP law.

Helpful cases:  Wisconsin does not have an anti-SLAPP law, but the following cases are helpful in understanding how defamation cases against publishers may proceed in the state.

Terry v. Journal Broadcast Corp., 351 Wis.2d 479 (Wis. App. 2013): Angela Terry, the owner of a wedding video service, sued the Journal Broadcast Corporation, its TV station, and other defendants for airing stories implying she had defrauded customers by failing to deliver wedding videos on time. Defendants moved for summary judgment, which the court granted (while also denying plaintiff’s motion for additional discovery and cross-motion for summary judgment). The Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment in favor of the defendants, finding that the challenged statements were substantially true or were nonactionable statements of opinions.

Biskupic v. Cicero, 313 Wis.2d 225 (Wis. App. 2008): Vincent Biskupic, a former Outagamie County District Attorney and an unsuccessful candidate for Wisconsin Attorney General, claimed he was defamed by a newspaper article published by the Shawano Leader that incorrectly stated Biskupic was convicted for accepting bribes (quoting a source who misspoke). The newspaper later printed a correction.  The circuit court granted summary judgment to defendants, dismissing the suit. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals affirmed, concluding that Biskupic, as a public figure, needed to prove the statements were made with actual malice, which he failed to do.

Legislative activity: Wisconsin lawmakers proposed SB 414 in 2023. The anti-SLAPP legislation would have allowed defendants to file a special motion to strike if the lawsuit arises from their constitutional rights to petition or free speech on public issues and would have enabled such defendants to recover attorney fees and costs. The bill failed to pass in April 2024.