By Thomas Burke ( February 14, 2018, 2:04 PM EST) -- In 2017, California's state and federal appellate courts issued 34 published opinions interpreting the state's anti-strategic lawsuit against public participation statute[1] and more than 169 unpublished appellate opinions. The California Supreme Court twice reaffirmed the statute's broad construction.[2] According to the California Judicial Council, more than 425 anti-SLAPP motions were filed in California's trial courts in 2017. As we do annually, we briefly summarize the past year's most significant anti-SLAPP developments. Enacted in 1992 to protect the exercise of free speech and petitioning activities, California's anti-SLAPP statute remains the strongest — and most frequently litigated — statute of its kind in the nation....