Georgia Community Support and Solutions v. Berryhill (Lawsuit) [1]

On February 8th, 2005, Georgia Community Support and Solutions [2] (GCSS), a non-profit organization that provides assistance to disabled adults and their families, filed a lawsuit against Shirley Berryhill for defamation and tortious interference with business relations over statements she made on a website for families of disabled adults and in emails to employees of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution [3] and the Georgia Department of Human Resources [4].

According to court documents, GCSS placed Ms. Berryhill's mentally handicapped son with providers of personal care. Subsequently, Ms. Berryhill allegedly made statements in web postings and emails asserting that her son was suffering from poor treatment and care. GCSS sent Berryhill a cease-and-desist letter regarding the statements (see our database entry [5]) and, after Berryhill refused to retract and apologize for the statements she made, the organization filed suit in Georgia state court.

Ms. Berryhill filed a motion to strike the complaint pursuant to Georgia's anti-SLAPP statute (GA. Code Ann. § 9-11-11.1(b) [6], and the trial court granted the motion. The court concluded that Berryhill's statements satisfied the threshold requirement of the anti-SLAPP statute because they were made in furtherance of her right to free speech about an issue of public concern.

The Georgia Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's decision, ruling that the anti-SLAPP statute only protects statements made in connection with  official government proceedings. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the appellate court's decision, concluding that Ms. Berryhill's speech and acts did not fall within the scope of Georgia's anti-SLAPP statute.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia [7], the Georgia First Amendment Foundation [8], and the Atlanta Press Club [9] filed an amicus brief [10] in support of Ms. Berryhill.

We have not determined what happened in the litigation following the Georgia Supreme Court's 2006 decision.