• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Mission
      • Political Islam
    • Areas of Expertise
      • Economic Warfare
        • Cyber Security
      • U.S. Policy
      • Anti-Corruption
      • Foreign Election Observing
      • Supporting Free Speech
        • Legislation
      • Impact of ACD’s Work
      • Free Speech Celebration, U.S. Senate
    • Board of Directors & Advisors
    • Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Subscribe
  • Our Impact
    • Endorsements
    • Additional Praise
  • Media
    • Events
      • Coming Events
    • Radio
    • Television
    • Youtube
  • Publications
    • All Posts Archive
    • Articles
    • Books
    • Papers
    • Presentations
    • Recommended Readings
  • Free Speech
    • Legislation & Support
    • Impact of ACD’s Work
      • Free Speech Celebration, U.S. Senate
      • Some Congressional Testimonies
      • 9/2010: SPEECH Act Celebration
  • Economic warfare
    • The Impact of Purposeful Interference on U.S. Cyber Interests
    • Cyber/Space, EMP Insecurity- Current and Future Threats
    • The Existential EMP Threat
    • New Strategies to Secure U.S. Economy from Cyber Attacks
    • Economic Warfare Subversions July 9, 2012
    • CyberSpace Security – Papers And Articles
    • Cyber Security
    • Da’esh “lite” North America Islamist – Sources
    • The Muslim Brotherhood and Da’esh “Lite” in North America
  • Support ACD
    • Donate
    • Subscribe
    • Contact
American Center for Democracy

American Center for Democracy

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • youtube
  • linkedin
  • Free Speech
  • U.S. Policy
    • U.S. Foreign Policy
  • Political Islam
    • Canada
    • Hamas
    • Iran
    • Islam
    • Muslim Brotherhood
    • Palestinian
    • United States
  • Narco-Terrorism
  • Middle East Conflicts
    • Iran
    • Israel
  • Global Conflicts
    • China
    • North Korea
    • Russia
    • Ukraine
  • Soros
You are here: Home / ACD in the Media / California The Latest State To Pass A Law Opposing British Libel Judgments

California The Latest State To Pass A Law Opposing British Libel Judgments

October 15, 2009 by The Guardian | by Roy Greenslade

The governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, yesterday signed a law that will allow the state’s courts to refuse to enforce British libel judgments. It effectively negates the practice of libel tourism. It is symbolic of the growing opposition in the States to Britain’s libel laws, which are in conflict with the US constitution’s first amendment protecting freedom of speech. The California legislation now gives courts power to block libel judgments from Britain which has, say politicians, “become a jurisdictional Mecca for the rich and famous”. They see the move as putting foreign jurisdictions like Britain under pressure to change their laws “to place greater protections on free speech.” In a classic statement of the difference between US and British press freedom, the state’s senate rules committee said its new law would “diminish the chilling impact of libel tourism on aggressive reporting about important international issues.”

The California law echoes one enacted by the state of New York in March 2008, called the libel terrorism protection act, which is the direct result of the Rachel Ehrenfeld controversy. Ehrenfeld was sued in London by a Saudi Arabian businessman over her 2003 book on terrorist financing, Funding Evil, which asserted that the man and his family had provided financial support to Islamic terrorist groups. Though her book was not published in Britain, some 20 copies had been purchased online through UK-registered websites and excerpts had been published online. Ehrenfeld, who chose not to defend the action, was criticised by the judge, Justice David Eady, who ruled that she should pay $10,000 to each plaintiff plus costs, apologise for false allegations and destroy existing copies of her book.

The decision outraged many American politicians, journalists and lawyers who believe the British courts are inhibiting freedom of expression. Ehrenfeld has also turned into a campaigner on the issue. She wrote last week in protest against Canada’s libel laws, Rescue writers from scourge of libel tourism. Two other states, Illinois (in August 2008) and Florida (in May this year) have passed legislation to shield people from libel judgments made outside America.

There is also a proposal to create a federal US law, the Free Speech Protection Act, to bar American courts from enforcing libel judgments issued in foreign courts against US residents if the speech/editorial content would not be considered libellous under American law. Today’s Daily Mail makes very clear where it stands on the issue in an editorial that refers to London as “the libel capital of the world”. It concludes: “Doesn’t it shame us that one American state after another… has found it necessary to pass laws protecting its citizens’ freedom of expression from the book-burning rulings of the British courts?”

Sources: Daily Mail/NY Daily News/Social Science Research Network/Weil Gotshal guardian.co.uk ᄅ Guardian News and Media Limited 2009

Filed Under: ACD in the Media

Primary Sidebar

Now Available

Buy The Soros Agenda

Search

All Topics

Authors

The Soros Agenda

g. soros

Soros: The Man Who Would Be Kingmaker, Part I

Rachel Ehrenfeld & Shawn Macomber

Soros: The Man Who Would Be Kingmaker, Part II

Soros: The Man Who Would be Kingmaker, Part III

Soros: The Man Who Would be Kingmaker, Part IV

Spotlight

quote by j.woolsey obama signing Rachel's law chemical terrorism transportation terrorism nuclear threats on the rise islamist incitement winning the cyberwar gps concepts and misconceptions libel tourism

Tags

antisemitism Caliphate Canada capital punishment China Christians Dawah Disinformation genocide Hamas Iran ISIS Islam Islamic Party of Ontario Islamic Relief Canada Islamic Relief Worldwide Islamization Islamophobia Israel J. Millard Burr Jews jihad Justin Trudeau LGBT liberalism Mazin AbdulAdhim Muslim Brotherhood Muslims Norman Bailey Ontario Palestine Political Islam Quran Russia Salaheddin Islamic Centre Saudi Arabia Sharia Sol W. Sanders SOROS Syria Terrorism Toronto US USA women's rights

Footer

About ACD

ACD is a New York-based 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, which monitors and exposes the enemies of freedom and their modus operandi, and explores pragmatic ways to counteract their methods.

Endorsements

"The ACD/EWI ability to predict future threats is second to none"

- R. James Woolsey, former Director of Central Intelligence

- - - More Endorsements - - -

Follow ACD!

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • youtube
  • linkedin

Copyright © 2023 | The American Center for Democracy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Your contribution is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.