Delaware · Senate Bill 312 · 152nd General Assembly

Uniform Public Expression Protection Act/Adopt

SB 312 Sponsored by Kyle Evans Gay Died in committee

  1. Introduced May 21, 2024
  2. In committee May 21, 2024
  3. Died  
  4. Passed the House  
  5. To the governor  
  6. Became law  

What it does

The legislature's own summary of the bill, or its official long title.

This Act adopts the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act ("the Act") authored by the Uniform Law Commission. The Uniform Law Commission “provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.” The Act was adopted by the Uniform Law Commission in October 2020 and has been adopted in 7 states, including New Jersey…

Read the full title (197 words)

This Act adopts the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act ("the Act") authored by the Uniform Law Commission. The Uniform Law Commission “provides states with non-partisan, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law.” The Act was adopted by the Uniform Law Commission in October 2020 and has been adopted in 7 states, including New Jersey, and is currently pending in 9 states, including Pennsylvania. The Act protects the public’s right to engage in activities protected by the First Amendment without abusive, expensive legal retaliation. Specifically, the Act combats the problem of strategic lawsuits against public participation, also called “SLAPPs.” A SLAPP may come in the form of a defamation, invasion of privacy, nuisance, or other claim, but its real goal is to entangle the defendant of a SLAPP in expensive litigation and stifle the ability to engage in constitutionally protected activities. While Delaware has an “anti-SLAPP” law (see §§ 8136 through 8138 of Title 10 of the Delaware Code), the law received a score of “D-“ from the Institute for Free Speech due to limited types of speech it protects and lack of basic protections provided by the Act.

Every action

2 steps, oldest first, as the legislature records them.

  1. CommitteeIntroduced and Assigned to Judiciary Committee in Senate · Senate Judiciary
  2. CommitteeReported Out of Committee (Judiciary) in Senate with 3 Favorable, 1 On Its Merits · Senate Judiciary

Roll calls

No recorded votes on this bill yet.

Sponsors

The member who introduced it.

From Delaware's official records (legis.delaware.gov), checked Nov 1, 2026. Text links go to the official versions; LegiList does not copy bill text.