Short title; purpose and intent

(1) This act may be cited as the "uniform public expression protection act". (2) The purpose and intent of this act is to do all of the following: (a) Establish that it is the public policy of this state to promote the rights of citizens to vigorously participate in government. (b) Protect citizens from the chilling effect of retributive and abusive strategic lawsuits against public participation, commonly referred to as SLAPP suits. (c) Enact substantive law to minimize the damage of lawsuits described in subdivision (b) by shifting the burden of litigation back to the party bringing the lawsuit, by doing all of the following: (i) Providing for expedited judicial review. (ii) Providing for a stay on discovery and other time and money consuming maneuvers during the expedited judicial review. (iii) Proscribing the evidence that may be considered in the expedited judicial review. (iv) Establishing the burden of proof for the expedited judicial review. (v) Providing for sanctions.