The Daily Sentinel (Grand Junction): Nobody ever files a frivolous lawsuit admitting their real intent is to harass those who disagree with them by forcing detractors to mount a costly legal defense.

But it happens. Some states do a better job of short-circuiting these abusive suits before they can financially bleed their targets into silence. Unfortunately, Colorado isn’t one of them, though it looks as if that’s about to change.

The Colorado House gave preliminary approval to an anti-SLAPP bill on Thursday. SLAPP is an acronym for a “strategic lawsuit against public participation.”

SLAPPs chill free speech and healthy debate by “targeting those who communicate with their government or speak out on issues of public interest,” according to the national advocacy group Public Participation Project, which grades states on their ability to protect free speech through anti-SLAPP statutes.

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