Where a plaintiff alleges defamation, the argument that the inciting claim is privileged under the Citizen Participation Act is an affirmative defense, and the plaintiff is not required to prove a lack of privilege unless the defense is raised.The 1st District Appellate Court affirmed the decision of Cook County Associate Judge Daniel T. GillespieIn June 2015, Jay Grider sent a letter to the Cook County assessor, the mayor of Burbank, various news organizations and others, wherein he accused several current and former …