Bipartisan legislation that would protect journalists from libel suits filed abroad, authored by Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), passed the U.S. Senate last week.
S. 3518 the Securing the Protection of our Enduring and Established Constitutional Heritage Act or SPEECH Act, would prohibit a domestic court from recognizing or enforcing a foreign judgment for defamation against an American.
According to a summary of the bill, it:
Provides that any U.S. person, against whom a foreign judgment is entered on the basis of the content of any writing, utterance, or other speech by that person that has been published, may bring an action in district court for a declaration that the foreign judgment is repugnant to the Constitution or laws of the United States.
Senators Leahy and Sessions said in a statement that they authored the bill, which now goes to the House, “to protect American authors, journalists and publishers from foreign libel lawsuits that undermine the First Amendment.”
The legislation had the support of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a DC non-profit that provides free legal assistance to reporters.