Anti-SLAPP Laws in Maryland

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Coverage and statutory conditions

Under § 5-807(b), a SLAPP suit must be brought in bad faith against someone who communicated with government or the public on a government matter or issue of public concern. It also must be materially related to that communication and intended to inhibit, or actually inhibit, the listed constitutional rights. Section 5-807(c) provides civil immunity for the described communication when made without constitutional malice.

Dismissal or stay

A defendant in an alleged SLAPP suit may move to dismiss; the court then holds a hearing as soon as practicable. The defendant may instead seek a stay of court proceedings until the matter discussed with government or the public is resolved (§ 5-807(d)). That text sets no fixed filing window or automatic discovery stay. It states no separate probability-of-prevailing test beyond the definition in § 5-807(b).

Fees, appeal, and exemptions

Section 5-807 does not establish a special attorney-fee award. A party may appeal from a final circuit-court judgment under § 12-301. Section 12-303 enumerates immediately appealable interlocutory orders; it does not list a ruling on a § 5-807 motion. Section 5-807 lists no claim-category exemptions and preserves otherwise available legal and equitable remedies (§ 5-807(e)).

What trips people up

A stay requires its own motion. Filing a dismissal motion alone does not create a statutory discovery pause (§ 5-807(d)). The public-concern communication must also meet the suit-focused conditions in § 5-807(b).

Common questions

Can I ask for both dismissal and a stay? Section 5-807(d) authorizes a defendant in an alleged SLAPP suit to move for dismissal or to stay proceedings; the court decides the requested relief.

Does the statute immunize every public comment? No. Section 5-807(c) requires the communication described there to be without constitutional malice, and subsection (b) defines the qualifying suit.

Statutes and sources

• Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-807(a)-(b) — “(a) In this section, “SLAPP suit” means a strategic lawsuit against public participation. (b) A lawsuit is a SLAPP suit if it is: (1) Brought in bad faith against a party who has communicated with a federal, State, or local government body or the public at large to report on, comment on, rule on, challenge, oppose, or in any other way exercise rights under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution or Article 10, Article 13, or Article 40 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights regarding any matter within the authority of a government body or any issue of public concern; (2) Materially related to the defendant’s communication; and (3) Intended to inhibit or inhibits the exercise of rights under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution or Article 10, Article 13, or Article 40 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights.” Source: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj&section=5-807 (accessed 2026-10-06).
• Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-807(c) — “(c) A defendant in a SLAPP suit is not civilly liable for communicating with a federal, State, or local government body or the public at large, if the defendant, without constitutional malice, reports on, comments on, rules on, challenges, opposes, or in any other way exercises rights under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution or Article 10, Article 13, or Article 40 of the Maryland Declaration of Rights regarding any matter within the authority of a government body or any issue of public concern. ” Source: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj&section=5-807 (accessed 2026-10-06).
• Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-807(d) — “(d) A defendant in an alleged SLAPP suit may move to: (1) Dismiss the alleged SLAPP suit, in which case the court shall hold a hearing on the motion to dismiss as soon as practicable; or (2) Stay all court proceedings until the matter about which the defendant communicated to the government body or the public at large is resolved. ” Source: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj&section=5-807 (accessed 2026-10-06).
• Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 5-807(e) — “(e) This section: (1) Is applicable to SLAPP suits notwithstanding any other law or rule; and (2) Does not diminish any equitable or legal right or remedy otherwise available to a defendant in a SLAPP suit. ” Source: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj&section=5-807 (accessed 2026-10-06).
• Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 12-301 — “Except as provided in § 12-302 of this subtitle, a party may appeal from a final judgment entered in a civil or criminal case by a circuit court. The right of appeal exists from a final judgment entered by a court in the exercise of original, special, limited, statutory jurisdiction, unless in a particular case the right of appeal is expressly denied by law. In a criminal case, the defendant may appeal even though imposition or execution of sentence has been suspended. In a civil case, a plaintiff who has accepted a remittitur may cross-appeal from the final judgment.” Source: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj&section=12-301 (accessed 2026-10-06).
• Md. Code Ann., Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 12-303 — “A party may appeal from any of the following interlocutory orders entered by a circuit court in a civil case: (1) An order entered with regard to the possession of property with which the action is concerned or with reference to the receipt or charging of the income, interest, or dividends therefrom, or the refusal to modify, dissolve, or discharge such an order; (2) An order granting or denying a motion to quash a writ of attachment; and (3) An order: (i) Granting or dissolving an injunction, but if the appeal is from an order granting an injunction, only if the appellant has first filed his answer in the cause; (ii) Refusing to dissolve an injunction, but only if the appellant has first filed his answer in the cause; (iii) Refusing to grant an injunction; and the right of appeal is not prejudiced by the filing of an answer to the bill of complaint or petition for an injunction on behalf of any opposing party, nor by the taking of depositions in reference to the allegations of the bill of complaint to be read on the hearing of the application for an injunction; (iv) Appointing a receiver but only if the appellant has first filed his answer in the cause; (v) For the sale, conveyance, or delivery of real or personal property or the payment of money, or the refusal to rescind or discharge such an order, unless the delivery or payment is directed to be made to a receiver appointed by the court; (vi) Determining a question of right between the parties and directing an account to be stated on the principle of such determination; (vii) Requiring bond from a person to whom the distribution or delivery of property is directed, or withholding distribution or delivery and ordering the retention or accumulation of property by the fiduciary or its transfer to a trustee or receiver, or deferring the passage of the court’s decree in an action under Title 10, Chapter 600 of the Maryland Rules; (viii) Deciding any question in an insolvency proceeding brought under Title 15, Subtitle 1 of the Commercial Law Article; (ix) Granting a petition to stay arbitration pursuant to § 3–208 of this article; (x) Depriving a parent, grandparent, or natural guardian of the care and custody of his child, or changing the terms of such an order; (xi) Denying immunity asserted under § 5–525 or § 5–526 of this article; and (xii) Denying a motion to dismiss a claim filed under § 5–117 of this article if the motion is based on a defense that the applicable statute of limitations or statute of repose bars the claim and any legislative action reviving the claim is unconstitutional.” Source: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=gcj&section=12-303 (accessed 2026-10-06).