Free speech is under assault via libel tourism

[jimmy olsen]

Hopefully Specter's bill will pass.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/2010/03/02/20100302tue1-02.html

Free speech is under assault

2 comments Mar. 2, 2010 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

If it seems like suppression of free speech is gaining ground in all corners of the globe, you may be more right than you realize.

It is not just Iranian dissidents or Venezuelan journalists being muzzled. Foreign totalitarians and zealots are after us, too.

Constitutionalists are becoming increasingly concerned about "libel tourism," a legal phenomenon that allows foreign nationals to sue Americans for libel, first through the courts of a foreign country, then in U.S. courts.

One of the most prominent potential U.S. victims of "libel tourism" is M. Zuhdi Jasser of Tempe, an outspoken Muslim critic of Islamic fundamentalists worldwide.

A Saudi Arabia citizen criticized by Jasser on the activist's Web site has threatened a libel suit against him in Great Britain, where libel is much more favorable to plaintiffs than in the United States. Jasser is concerned the wealthy Saudi could pursue a successful judgment from a London court in this country.

"It's nerve-wracking because we're not a billion-dollar non-profit," said Jasser, who directs the American Islamic Forum for Democracy.

In fact, there are several recent examples in which Americans who either published books sold overseas or simply commented on the Internet have been pursued legally here as a result of judgments against them in other countries.

Or even by other countries: Freelance writer Joe Sharkey, who writes a business-travel column for the New York Times, is being sued by the nation of Brazil, which contends he libeled the entire country when he wrote on the Internet about surviving a midair collision over the Amazon.

"They have made this bizarre assertion that, by insulting Brazil, I have insulted every citizen of Brazil," said Sharkey, who is being assisted in his defense by lawyers hired by the New York Times. Sharkey dared report the findings of the crash investigation, which found the incident was likely the fault of Brazilian air-traffic controllers.

Not all defendants against this modern-age assault on free speech have such deep-pocket defenders. As such, several states - including California, Florida, Illinois and New York - have passed legislation to protect U.S. citizens against foreign defamation suits.

Legislation in Arizona is pending, as is a federal proposal sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa. Specter's bill recently was defended enthusiastically in a Judiciary Committee hearing by Arizona Republican Sen. Jon Kyl.

Introduced in Arizona by former Sen. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, Senate Bill 1268 would prohibit Arizona courts from recognizing a defamation claim that originated in a country whose protections of freedom of speech and the press are inferior to those of the United States. Paton's bill passed through the Senate in February.

We live in an age in which ideas and arguments fly across the globe almost instantly.

As Americans, we hold the right to express those ideas and arguments as unalienable. Assaults on those rights, like "libel tourism," tell us just how rare, and fragile, they are.

[Gups]

There's no doubt about it, libel laws in England and Wales are a disgrace.

There's an important decision soon in the Court of Appeal concerning Simon Singh the science writer. The whole case demonstrates the problems with the system. Hopefully it will prompt legislative reform in the next Parliament.

A good outline of it is here in case anyone is interested.

http://www.thelawyer.com/simon-singh's-bogus-journey/1003557.article

[Neil]

I rather doubt it.  Surely Labour has other things higher on the priority list, like installing government CCTV cameras in people's houses or banning various forms of upper-class entertainment out of sheer spite.

[The Minsky Moment]

IIRC we discussed this before when the NY state free speech protection law was raised.  It split the Anglo-Saxon bar, with the Canucks here raising eyebrows against the anarchic Yanks and their disdain for sister nation judgments, and Amurricans expressing horror at the prospect that the judgments of crypto-fascist UK judges with their loosey-goosey libel standards could cross the Atlantic and poison the sacred font of liberty.

[garbon]

IIRC we discussed this before when the NY state free speech protection law was raised.  It split the Anglo-Saxon bar, with the Canucks here raising eyebrows against the anarchic Yanks and their disdain for sister nation judgments, and Amurricans expressing horror at the prospect that the judgments of crypto-fascist UK judges with their loosey-goosey libel standards could cross the Atlantic and poison the sacred font of liberty.

I know we discussed it in the context of an American author being sued for a book he wrote. That's when you taught me that I can't just ignore foreign law suits, no matter how frivolous they are.

[crazy canuck]

fyi, the SCC recently rendered a decision in a defamation case that moved our law closer to that of the Americans.