UPDATE: Senate Curtails Libel Tourism Trade

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee this week unanimously passed the SPEECH (Securing the Protection of our Enduring Established Constitutional Heritage) bill co-sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen Jeffrey Sessions (R-Ala.), which will make it more difficult for foreign plaintiffs to prevail against U.S. journalists and authors in defamation claims brought outside our country. (See "TUOL" post 6/25/10.)

The legislation, which is expected to gain full Senate approval, would prevent enforcement of foreign libel judgments in the U.S. that are not consistent with First Amendment protections. The SPEECH bill has the backing of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the American Association of Publishers, among other groups.