Block that judgement: stopping libel tourism.

• Author: Sullum, Jacob
• Position: Citings - Brief article

WHEN A PIECE of legislation with a strained, acronym-grasping name sails through both houses of Congress, it usually isn't good news for liberty. The Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage (SPEECH) Act, which the Senate approved by unanimous consent in July and the House approved by a voice vote the same month, is an exception.

The SPEECH Act, which allows Americans to block enforcement of foreign defamation judgments on First Amendment grounds, is aimed at discouraging "libel tourism" With written material available worldwide on the Internet, wealthy plaintiffs can easily go forum shopping, choosing the venues where they are most likely to win and making Americans subject to damages under standards that would never pass constitutional muster in the United States.

The new law was championed by the Israeli-American...