Civil Rights & Constitutional Law
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December 15, 2008
Wednesday, May 27, 2026

Congressman Max Miller (official U.S. House of Representatives portrait)
CLEVELAND, OH — Today, Emily Moreno filed a motion for expedited relief in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, asking the court to dismiss Congressman Max Miller’s defamation lawsuit against her. Congressman Miller is her former husband. The motion invokes the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA), Ohio’s recently adopted anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) law designed to protect citizens from frivolous lawsuits intended to silence free speech on matters of public concern.
The lawsuit, filed by Congressman Miller on May 13, 2026, complains about a Daily Mail article detailing allegations that during their marriage, Miller threw scalding water on Ms. Moreno. The motion seeking to dismiss the suit argues that Miller—a powerful and affluent public official—is wielding his fortune as a weapon to “crush his critics, intimidate his accusers, and silence the victims of his own misconduct.”
“This is the latest example of Congressman Miller seeking to silence and intimidate a woman who has information about his behavior,” said Subodh Chandra, Ms. Moreno’s lead counsel and The Chandra Law Firm’s managing partner. “But the First Amendment and Ohio law rightly don’t allow a public official to weaponize the courts to punish a victim for speech on a matter of public concern. And few things could be of greater public concern than potential violent conduct by an elected official. We are asking the court to end this vexatious litigation and make Miller pay for the unnecessary expense he’s imposing on his ex-wife.”
The motion presents several arguments for immediate dismissal under UPEPA, including the following:
Under UPEPA, because Ms. Moreno has shown her alleged speech (even if she had made it) is protected and the lawsuit is meritless, the court must dismiss the action with prejudice. The statute also mandates that the court award Ms. Moreno her reasonable attorney fees, court costs, and litigation expenses.
Ms. Moreno is represented in this matter by Subodh Chandra and Emily Bohatch. The case is captioned Miller v. Moreno, et al., Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas General Division Case No. 26-138810, and is before Judge Joy Kennedy. The motion may be found here.
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