State Representative Alex Kolodin (R-Scottsdale) proposed a bill Tuesday, a week ago that would stop lawfare and the political prosecutions of opponents. HB 2633 broadens laws against Strategic Legal Actions Against Public Participation (known as anti-SLAPP laws) to include political and religious expression, creates additional remedies against state actors who bring SLAPP suits, and establishes an avenue for post-conviction relief when a defendant asserts that a prosecution was politically motivated. Anti-SLAPP laws prohibit using the courts to suppress the First Amendment, including the constitutional rights of petition, speech, and association.
Kolodin, an election and constitutional attorney, announced the bill on X, quoting President Donald Trump. “‘Never again will the immense power of the state be used to prosecute political opponents!’ – Trump,” he said. “HB2633 turns that promise into law. It’s up in Judiciary next week. Show up. Speak out. Make the Constitution great again!”
Kolodin himself was disciplined by the State Bar of Arizona for filing election lawsuits over the 2020 election. The bar sentenced him in November 2023 to 18 months probation. He was charged with several rules often used to disbar conservative attorneys. As part of the agreement, Kolodin admitted his actions violated Rule 42, ERs 3.1 and 8.4(d) of the Arizona Bar’s Rules of Professional Conduct. ER 3.1 prohibits attorneys from bringing “frivolous” lawsuits, and 8.4(d) prohibits attorneys from “engag[ing] in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice.”
Since then, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled last spring that attorneys cannot be disciplined for bringing election lawsuits, prompting the bar’s disciplinary judge to drop charges against two of Kari Lake’s election attorneys, citing that decision.
HB 2633 will be heard on Wednesday by the House Judiciary Committee along with several other bills, beginning at 8:30 a.m. It is co-sponsored by State Representatives Rachel Jones (R-Tucson) and Tim Kupper (R-Yuma).
