Blakesley v. Marcus
Split Score
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This score (0-100) indicates how likely this case is to be reviewed by the Supreme Court based on:
Case Summary
Disposition
Affirmed
The First Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of the Marcus defendants’ special motion to dismiss under the Massachusetts anti-SLAPP statute. The court held that the defendants failed, at stage one of the Bristol framework, to show that the plaintiff’s defamation and tortious-interference claims were based solely on protected petitioning activity, and it assumed without deciding that it had interlocutory jurisdiction under the collateral-order doctrine because the merits favored the party challenging jurisdiction.
Circuit Split Identified
Legal Issue
Whether a district court order denying an anti-SLAPP special motion to dismiss is immediately appealable under the collateral-order doctrine.
Circuit Positions
Denials of anti-SLAPP motions ARE NOT appealable collateral orders.
Denials of anti-SLAPP motions ARE appealable collateral orders.
Jurisdiction question bypassed; court assumes without deciding when merits favor the non-movant (no definitive position).
Conflict Summary
Several circuits hold that denials of anti-SLAPP motions are not sufficiently separate from the merits to qualify for collateral-order review, while at least one circuit treats such denials as appealable. The First Circuit in this opinion expressly declines to resolve the question and instead assumes jurisdiction when the merits favor the party opposing jurisdiction.