Lawmakers push to protect free speech

PHOENIX — Dr. Zuhdi Jasser isn’t reluctant to speak his mind about oil barons he believes to be financiers of terrorism. He does so through the group he founded, the American Islamic Forum for Democracy.

“This is the head of the spear,” Jasser said. “This is the intellectual war of ideas against those that want to deny debate, elevate theology and cut us off at the knees.”

While Jasser makes these statements from Phoenix, he said one person he criticized, a resident of a Middle Eastern nation, threatened him with a libel suit in Britain, where laws are more favorable to plaintiffs than in the U.S.

“It’s nerve-racking because we’re not a billion-dollar nonprofit,” said Jasser, who practices internal medicine and nuclear cardiology in Phoenix.

Experts call such cases libel tourism, where parties use the Internet’s reach to file suits against U.S. residents in countries, not necessarily their own, where defamation laws give them a better chance of prevailing.

A state lawmaker has introduced legislation aimed at protecting Arizona residents against the practice.

SB 1268, sponsored by Sen. Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson, would prohibit state courts from recognizing libel judgments of foreign courts’ lesser protections for freedom of speech and the press than the U.S. and Arizona constitutions.

“The United States is the gold standard for freedom of speech and freedom of the press,” Paton said. “I don’t think we should be trying to abridge that freedom.”

David Bodney, a media attorney with the Phoenix law firm Steptoe and Johnson LLP, called libel tourism a threat to free speech.

He spoke in support of the bill on behalf of Phoenix Newspapers Inc. when it went before the Senate Judiciary Committee recently.

“I think legislation like this is hugely important, particularly as more people are communicating routinely on Web sites via the Internet,” Bodney said.

New York, California, Illinois and Florida have passed similar legislation. Congress is currently considering a similar measure, the Free Speech Protection Act of 2009.

Arizona lawmakers have introduced two other bills on the subject. Sen. Chuck Gray, R-Mesa, proposes the same restrictions on libel tourism but goes a step further by saying Arizona courts shouldn’t consider any precedents set by foreign courts when rendering their decisions. Another, introduced by Rep. Carl Seel, R-Phoenix, proposes that judges not consider foreign judgments of any kind and those who do should face impeachment.

Joseph Russomanno, an associate professor in Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, said Paton’s bill has the potential to make an impact.

“The nice thing about a provision like this is that it’s in place to protect the people who get put in this situation,” said Russomanno, who specializes in mass communication law.

Sen. Ken Cheuvront, D-Phoenix, was the only committee member to vote against the bill.

The problem of course are worthless judges who believe that foreign law has bearing in the USA. Such a law should not be needed because as Americans we are not bound by decisions of foreign courts.

Judges who believe otherwise must be removed from the bench.

2 posted on 02/22/2010 3:36:18 PM PST by pnh102 (Regarding liberalism, always attribute to malice what you think can be explained by stupidity. - Me)

lol.

I don’t see why we need a new law. Ignore them.

I don’t care if someone sues me in British court, they’d have to be nuts.

3 posted on 02/22/2010 3:36:38 PM PST by GeronL (Political Philosophy: I Own Me (yep, boiled down to 6 letters))

I agree. Americans should not even have had to worry about being sued in some foreign country.

Of course now we have Interpol being given freedom to operate here... maybe they’ll drag us off to the Hague?

heh

4 posted on 02/22/2010 3:38:00 PM PST by GeronL (Political Philosophy: I Own Me (yep, boiled down to 6 letters))

Makes you wonder if the foreign courts will respect our “Freedom of Religion”, like say in Saudi Arabia?

hahaha

I’d like to see someone try

6 posted on 02/22/2010 4:58:54 PM PST by GeronL (Political Philosophy: I Own Me (yep, boiled down to 6 letters))

Good law and necessary. What this will do is create legislative precedent for ignoring foreign laws that are below the threshold set in our Constitution which contains the lucky 9th Amendment:

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

We retain other rights libs. Leave us alone.

So we pass a law that says no other country can talk bad about us, then sue the world.

Brilliant.

9 posted on 02/22/2010 5:54:36 PM PST by GeronL (Political Philosophy: I Own Me (yep, boiled down to 6 letters))

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