Rhode Island: Anti-SLAPP Laws

The short answer

Rhode Island has an anti-SLAPP law, but it works differently from most
other states' modern statutes. R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 9-33-1 to 9-33-4, first
enacted in 1993 and substantially amended in 1995, gives conditional
immunity from civil claims to a person's exercise of petition or
free-speech rights on a matter of public concern, unless the speech was
a "sham." There's no separate, fast-track "special motion" with its own
statutory deadline: the Rhode Island Supreme Court has held that since
the 1995 amendment removed the law's original special-motion mechanism,
you assert this immunity through an ordinary motion for summary
judgment. Discovery is automatically paused once you file the motion.
Win the motion and you're entitled to mandatory fees and compensatory
damages — but there's no statutory right to appeal right away if you
lose it.

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Rhode Island's anti-SLAPP statute, formally "Limits on Strategic
Litigation Against Public Participation," is R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 9-33-1 to
9-33-4. The General Assembly enacted it in 1993 and substantially
amended it in 1995 — the amendment that matters most removed the
statute's original "special motion to dismiss" mechanism entirely,
leaving only a general reference to "an appropriate motion." There have
been no substantive changes since 1995 (a 1997 change was a technical
cross-reference fix). Rhode Island has not adopted the newer Uniform
Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA) that many other states enacted
between 2024 and 2026, and no bill to do so is currently pending.

What speech or conduct is protected

The statute defines protected activity in three ways: a written or oral
statement made before or submitted to a government body or proceeding; a
statement made in connection with an issue under consideration or review
by such a body; or — the broadest category — "any written or oral
statement made in connection with an issue of public concern." That
third category isn't limited to speech directed at government at all,
so it has been applied to things like letters to a newspaper editor
criticizing a business, not just statements aimed at officials.

The motion procedure

Unlike most anti-SLAPP statutes, Rhode Island's no longer has a distinct
"special motion" with its own statutory filing deadline. The legislature
deleted that mechanism in 1995, and the Rhode Island Supreme Court has
held that the immunity is now asserted through an ordinary motion for
summary judgment under the regular Rules of Civil Procedure — meaning it
follows the normal summary-judgment timeline in your case, not an
accelerated one. Filing the motion does automatically stay all discovery
in the case, though a court can allow specific, limited discovery for
good cause shown.

Burden of proof

The statute itself sets no special burden-shifting test — it doesn't say
the plaintiff must show a "probability of prevailing" or a "prima facie
case," the way most modern anti-SLAPP laws do. Because the vehicle is an
ordinary summary-judgment motion, the ordinary summary-judgment rule
applies instead: the defendant must show there's no genuine dispute that
the speech wasn't a "sham," and if the defendant does that, the burden
shifts to the plaintiff to come forward with evidence creating a real
factual dispute. In the leading case, the plaintiff lost specifically
because it "submitted no opposing affidavit or other evidence" and
relied only on the allegations in its own complaint.

Attorney's fees

If you win the motion, or if you're the party who exercised protected
speech and you ultimately win at trial, the court must award you costs
and reasonable attorney's fees — this is mandatory, not discretionary.
The court must also award compensatory damages, and may award punitive
damages, if you separately show the underlying lawsuit was frivolous or
intended to harass you or chill your speech. There's no mirror-image
fee-shifting against you if you lose the motion; the remedy runs only in
the anti-SLAPP movant's favor.

Right to appeal

The statute creates no right to an immediate appeal, and there is none
in practice. In one leading case, a defendant whose anti-SLAPP summary
judgment motion was denied had no interlocutory appeal available — he
had to ask the Supreme Court for a discretionary writ of certiorari,
which was denied, and the case then continued through six more years of
litigation before finally reaching a decision the Supreme Court could
review, on ordinary appeal from a final judgment.

Exemptions

There's no separate list of exempted claim types. The only way speech
loses its immunity is the "sham" test: the speech must be BOTH
objectively baseless (no reasonable person could realistically expect it
to succeed) AND subjectively baseless (actually an attempt to misuse the
government process itself, not just to achieve an unfavorable outcome
through it). Both parts must be true — meeting only one isn't enough to
strip immunity.

What trips people up

There's no fast, statutory timeline. If you're used to other
states' 45- or 60-day special-motion deadlines, don't assume Rhode
Island works the same way — your anti-SLAPP defense proceeds on the
normal summary-judgment schedule in your case.

Losing the motion doesn't get you an automatic appeal. You either
have to ask for discretionary review by writ of certiorari (which the
Supreme Court can simply decline to hear) or keep litigating the whole
case to a final judgment before you can appeal at all.

You need actual evidence, not just your pleadings, to win. Because
this runs through the ordinary summary-judgment process, simply arguing
that a claim is a SLAPP in your motion papers isn't enough — you need an
affidavit or other evidence establishing the statutory elements, and the
plaintiff's failure to produce contrary evidence has been decisive in at
least one Rhode Island Supreme Court case.

Common questions

Does this cover a letter I wrote to a local newspaper criticizing a
company, not something I said to a government body? Likely yes — the
statute's third, broadest category covers any statement connected to an
issue of public concern, not just statements directed at government, and
Rhode Island courts have applied it to newspaper commentary.

If I win my summary judgment motion under this statute, do I
automatically get my attorney's fees? Yes. The statute makes a fee and
costs award mandatory once you either win the motion or ultimately
prevail at trial on the merits.

If my motion is denied, can I appeal right away like in other
states? No. Rhode Island's statute doesn't create an interlocutory
appeal right. Your options are asking the Supreme Court to exercise its
discretion to hear the issue on a writ of certiorari, or continuing to
litigate the case to a final judgment first.

Statutes and sources

• R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-33-2(a), (e) — "A party's exercise of his or her
  right of petition or of free speech... in connection with a matter of
  public concern shall be conditionally immune from civil claims... As
  used in this section, 'a party's exercise of its right of petition or
  of free speech' shall mean any written or oral statement made before or
  submitted to a legislative, executive, or judicial body... or any
  written or oral statement made in connection with an issue of public
  concern." Source: http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE9/9-33/9-33-2.HTM
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-33-2(a)(1)-(2) — "The petition or free speech
  will be deemed to constitute a sham... only if it is both: (1)
  Objectively baseless... and (2) Subjectively baseless in the sense
  that it is actually an attempt to use the governmental process itself
  for its own direct effects." Source:
  http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE9/9-33/9-33-2.HTM
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-33-2(b)-(c) — "The court shall stay all
  discovery proceedings in the action upon the filing of a motion
  asserting the immunity established by this section... The immunity
  established by this section may be asserted by an appropriate motion
  or by other appropriate means under the applicable rules of civil
  procedure." Source:
  http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE9/9-33/9-33-2.HTM
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-33-2(d) — "the court shall award the prevailing
  party costs and reasonable attorney's fees... The court shall award
  compensatory damages and may award punitive damages upon a showing by
  the prevailing party that the responding party's claims... were
  frivolous or were brought with an intent to harass..." Source:
  http://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE9/9-33/9-33-2.HTM
  (accessed 2026-07-05).
• Hometown Props., Inc. v. Fleming, 680 A.2d 56, 63 (R.I. 1996) —
  "When the General Assembly enacted the 1995 amendments, the 'special
  motion to dismiss' provision was deleted... we hold that the
  'appropriate motion'... described in the 1995 amendment would be a
  motion for summary judgment..." Source:
  https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1992936/hometown-properties-inc-v-fleming/
  (accessed 2026-07-05).