In a letter-to-the editor, Texas for Lawsuit Reform (TLR) President and General Counsel Lee Parsley took extremely strong issue with a recent Houston Chronicle column: “Texas lawmakers want to gut free speech protections and encourage more lawsuits” (February 25, 2025).
The article shares a false narrative that TLR’s proposed amendments to the Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA) would infringe on Texans’ first amendment right — a point that Parsley confronted vigorously by detailing the importance of these reforms in ensuring that the TCPA truly achieves its dual goals of protecting free speech while also protecting access to the courts.
TLR’s letter-to-the-editor appears here in its entirety:
The Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA) was passed in 2011 to protect two constitutional rights: freedom of speech and access to the courts. Unfortunately, unscrupulous defendants are filing TCPA motions to dismiss lawsuits that have nothing to do with freedom of speech. These frivolous filings have been used to delay divorce cases, election contests, and many other kinds of legitimate lawsuits.
The article falsely asserts that Texans for Lawsuit Reform (TLR) is working to silence public dissent against corporations through an amendment to the TCPA. Nothing could be further from the truth.
TLR is working to prevent misuse of the TCPA to delay cases to which it does not apply while simultaneously protecting Texans’ right to speak freely about matters of public importance.
TLR supports Senate Bill (SB) 336 by Sen. Bryan Hughes, which prevents unscrupulous defendants from delaying a legitimate lawsuit if (1) the TCPA motion is filed in a case to which the statute specifically does not apply; if (2) the TCPA motion is found to be frivolous; or if (3) the TCPA motion was not filed timely.
When a person timely files a TCPA motion in a First Amendment case, they still will enjoy every protection currently provided to them by Texas law. SB 336 will do nothing to impede a person’s ability to speak freely in Texas.
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