A MIXED RULING

Colorado Court of Appeals reverses civil conspiracy claims, affirms others in anti-SLAPP lawsuit from 2021 City Council elections

BY WILL MATUSKA

It started with leaked screenshots and a fake Twitter account.

What followed was a defamation lawsuit filed by former City Council candidate Steve Rosenblum against five political organizers and Boulder Progressives, a local nonprofit that endorses candidates and ballot measures, in September 2021.

Nearly two years later, on Aug. 3, the Colorado Court of Appeals reversed an order by the Boulder District Court in the lawsuit’s claim of civil conspiracy for all defendants (Eric Budd, Katie Farnan, Ryan Welsh, Mark Van Akkeren, Sarah Dawn Haynes and Boulder Progressives), but affirmed claims against organizer Budd.

In addition to the dismissed civil conspiracy charge, the lawsuit accused Budd of misappropriation and defamation prior to the 2021 council elections, which Rosenblum lost by less than one percentage point.

Rosenblum argues the opposing political activists attacked his personal reputation, which impacted the outcome of the vote.

Lisa Sweeney-Miran, a member of Boulder Progressives, calls the appellate court ruling “precedent-setting” because it upholds Colorado’s anti-SLAPP (strategic lawsuits against public participation) law, passed in 2019, which is designed to protect engagement in government processes in issues of public concern.

“We’re very glad to see affirmation of free speech and the importance of open and informed elections,” she told Boulder Weekly. “And we believe very strongly in the importance of making sure that everyone knows who they are voting for and what the values and beliefs of candidates in every election are. We’re looking forward to this upcoming election cycle and we’re pleased that the court has affirmed the importance and need of folks engaging in these elections in a meaningful way.”

It’s an important win for Boulder Progressives as the organization leans into the 2023 election cycle that features an open seat for the mayor and four on the Boulder City Council.

The main concern in the lawsuit district court found he had no connection to the Reddit account and did not make the statements attributed to him.

While the majority of the claims in this case have been dismissed, Budd alone still faces the possibility of prosecution for creating a Twitter account under Rosenblum’s name, which included links to Safer Leaks, prior to the 2021 election.

Judge Fox calls Rosenblum’s assertion of misappropriation against Budd a “legally sufficient claim” because Budd used Rosenblum’s name, image and likeness through the Twitter account, which could benefit Budd by undermining the efforts of a political candidate he opposed.

“In [creating an impersonation account on Twitter], Budd prevented Rosenblum from using the account name for his own campaign purposes and, arguably, created the appearance that Rosenblum’s campaign endorsed the contents of the Safer Leaks blog,” Fox wrote in the Aug. 3 ruling.