§ 9-33-2. Conditional immunity.
(a) A party's exercise of his or her right of petition or of free speech under the United
States or Rhode Island constitutions in connection with a matter of public concern
shall be conditionally immune from civil claims, counterclaims, or cross-claims. Such
immunity will apply as a bar to any civil claim, counterclaim, or cross-claim directed
at petition or free speech as defined in subsection (e) of this section, except if
the petition or free speech constitutes a sham. The petition or free speech constitutes
a sham only if it is not genuinely aimed at procuring favorable government action,
result, or outcome, regardless of ultimate motive or purpose. The petition or free
speech will be deemed to constitute a sham as defined in the previous sentence only
if it is both:
(1) Objectively baseless in the sense that no reasonable person exercising the right of
speech or petition could realistically expect success in procuring the government
action, result, or outcome, and
(2) Subjectively baseless in the sense that it is actually an attempt to use the governmental
process itself for its own direct effects. Use of outcome or result of the governmental
process shall not constitute use of the governmental process itself for its own direct
effects.
(b) The court shall stay all discovery proceedings in the action upon the filing of a
motion asserting the immunity established by this section; provided, however, that
the court, on motion and after a hearing and for good cause shown, may order that
specified discovery be conducted. The stay of discovery shall remain in effect until
notice of entry of the order ruling on the motion.
(c) 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.
(d) If the court grants the motion asserting the immunity established by this section,
or if the party claiming lawful exercise of his or her right of petition or of free
speech under the United States or Rhode Island constitutions in connection with a
matter of public concern is, in fact, the eventual prevailing party at trial, the
court shall award the prevailing party costs and reasonable attorney's fees, including
those incurred for the motion and any related discovery matters. The court shall award
compensatory damages and may award punitive damages upon a showing by the prevailing
party that the responding party's claims, counterclaims, or cross-claims were frivolous
or were brought with an intent to harass the party or otherwise inhibit the party's
exercise of its right to petition or free speech under the United States or Rhode
Island constitution. Nothing in this section shall affect or preclude the right of
the party claiming lawful exercise of his or her right of petition or of free speech
under the United States or Rhode Island constitutions to any remedy otherwise authorized
by law.
(e) 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 other governmental proceeding; any written or
oral statement made in connection with an issue under consideration or review by a
legislative, executive, or judicial body, or any other governmental proceeding; or
any written or oral statement made in connection with an issue of public concern.