Anti-SLAPP

Following the lead of an earlier case involving the Texas anti-SLAPP statute, the Fifth Circuit held in Sahs v. Loyola Univ. that a similar Louisiana law did not apply in federal court either. The Court reasoned: “Article 971 answers the same question as Federal Rules 12 and 56: when can an action be dismissed before trial?” and concluded that “Article 971 conflicts with Rule 56 in those same ways: (1) the statute’s burden-shifting framework and (2) its limitations on discovery.” Because “Federal Rules 12 and 56 are valid under the Rules Enabling Act,” they control over the state law. An additional opinion questioned there was appellate jurisdiction. No. 25-30256 (Sept. 11, 2026).