Searle v. Johnson

HALL, Chief Justice:

Plaintiffs sued defendants under a tort theory of intentional interference with plaintiffs’ prospective economic advantage. Plaintiffs alleged that defendant Lonnie Johnson, Executive Director of the Humane Society of Utah, had injured plaintiffs’ tourist businesses by publicly discouraging tourism in Uintah County, where plaintiffs’ businesses are located. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of defendants on the basis that Johnson’s publicity campaign was a privileged exercise of his First Amendment right to petition, protecting him from tort liability.

Since…