The ‘Weed 9’

Oregon-based timber company Roseburg Forest Products Company sued the City of Weed and nine citizens in 2017. These nine citizens – dubbed the “Weed 9” – had voiced their concerns about the city’s access to Beaughan Springs, a public spring water source, the rights of which had been disputed for decades. The Weed 9 were represented by Lauren Regan of the Civil Liberties Defense Center, a Protect the Protest coalition member.

The town of Weed has relied on the spring as the predominant water source for the town’s 100-year existence. Roseburg Forest Products owns the land surrounding the spring and had only been charging the city a symbolic gesture of $1 to use the water from the spring. In 2016, it upped the price to almost $100,000 per year and asked the city to look for alternative water sources. In reaction to the drastic price increase, Water for Citizens of Weed, CA (WCWC) was formed. The grassroots community organization consisted of several respected town elders, previous mayors, and residents who filed complaints, protested, distributed information, and held town meetings. 

In 2017, WCWC found strong historical evidence that the previous water rights holder, International Paper, intended to grant rights to the city before selling the rest to Roseburg, who claims to own all of the water rights. Nine WCWC members wrote to the state water agency requesting a change in the record, and the Weed City Council endorsed the letter. 

The next day, Roseburg sued the City Council and the Weed 9 to secure their water rights. Including the residents made it a clear SLAPP lawsuit, as they had no reason to name them in 

the action other than to silence and intimidate them. In 2017, the case against the Weed 9 was dismissed under the California Anti-SLAPP law. However, Roseburg appealed the ruling for three years but ultimately dropped the case and paid the associated legal fees. 

Currently, California is the only state with a “SLAPPback” law allowing previous defendants to bring an action for malicious prosecution of a lawsuit dismissed under the Anti-SLAPP law. Under California’s SLAPPback law, the Weed 9 brought a lawsuit against the law firm representing Roseburg in the previous action, Churchwell White LLP. However, the case was dismissed on February 9, 2023. 

While California has strong anti-SLAPP and SLAPPback laws, just over 30 states have anti-SLAPP legislation. Some of these laws are decades outdated and contain weak protections for people exercising their right to free expression. This further highlights the importance of implementing federal anti-SLAPP legislation.