CHICAGO | October 26, 2026 — The Liberty Justice Center (LJC) moved to dismiss the Chicago Teachers Union’s (CTU) defamation claims against it in the Circuit Court of Cook County, arguing that the union’s lawsuit targets constitutionally protected satire. The motion argues that two social media posts are protected by the First Amendment and Illinois’ anti-SLAPP law. LJC also seeks its reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs incurred in bringing the motion.
CTU sued LJC in August 2026 over two memes criticizing the union’s handling of its annual financial audits. At the time, LJC represented CTU members seeking access to those audits under the union’s own constitution and bylaws.
LJC argues that CTU’s lawsuit seeks to silence criticism and retaliate against the law firm representing union members seeking financial transparency.
“CTU members asked for financial transparency. When their union failed to provide it, we helped them go to court. Now the union is suing us over jokes about that very dispute,” said Sara Albrecht, Chairman and CEO of the Liberty Justice Center. “The First Amendment protects the right to criticize powerful institutions, including through satire. We will not let this lawsuit silence our advocacy for union members or our defense of free speech.”
The dispute began when CTU members sought four years of annual audited financial reports that the union had not furnished. After requests for the reports went unanswered, LJC filed Weiss v. Chicago Teachers Union on their behalf in October 2024.
In December 2024, CTU provided abridged reports for 2020, 2021 and 2022, followed by an abridged report for 2023 in March 2025. The litigation continued over whether the union’s governing documents require it to furnish complete annual audits rather than summaries.
In August and November 2025, LJC posted two cooking-themed memes on X to criticize the union’s delays and lack of transparency. CTU characterizes the posts as accusations of fraud and deceptive accounting; LJC argues they were satire.
The motion argues that the posts must be read in context as satirical commentary on an ongoing public controversy, rather than literal accusations of criminal conduct. It argues that the constitutional protections long afforded political cartoons and caricatures apply equally to memes.
The filing also argues that, to the extent the posts communicated facts about delayed audits or incomplete disclosures, those facts were substantially true. According to the motion, CTU’s own complaint acknowledges the delays and the union’s provision of summary reports.
LJC also seeks dismissal under the Illinois Citizen Participation Act, the state’s anti-SLAPP law. SLAPP stands for “strategic lawsuit against public participation.” LJC argues that CTU’s claims target its exercise of constitutional rights, that its commentary on the public-sector union’s financial reporting falls within the Act’s protections, and that it is entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.
The motion asks the court to dismiss CTU’s claims against LJC with prejudice, which would bar CTU from refiling those claims.
Meanwhile, LJC continues to represent CTU members in the underlying audit case. On October 8, 2026, LJC appealed a ruling entered after CTU posted its complete audits during the litigation. The appeal seeks to establish the union’s obligation under its governing documents to furnish complete annual audited financial reports to its members each year.
LJC is represented in the defamation case by BakerHostetler.
Filings in Chicago Teachers Union, Local 1, IFT-AFT v. Liberty Justice Center et al., including LJC’s October 23 motion to dismiss, are available here.