In a move that rings of the American spirit and enforces and validates American’s first amendment rights, the 2nd Circuit US Court of Appeals has made it clear that Americans are not subject to foreign jurisdictions in their speech and writings. Their conclusion of Ehrenfeld v. Mahrouz (06-2228-cv) further solidifies our freedoms, and our sovereignty.
Quick back story here. Rachel Ehrenfeld is an author. She wrote a book titled Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It. In the book, she discusses and details how several wealthy Saudi’s funnel money to Hamas and al Qaida. She writes about Khalid Salim a bin Mahfouz. Mahfouz, of course, it livid about the whole idea. So he does what any good terrorist funder would do, he sues her for libel. Did I mention that Ehrenfeld is American? She lives in New York. Her book was published in New York. So one would reason that this terrorist enabler would sue our intrepid author in American right? WRONG!
Knowing that in America her book is covered (very well, I might add) by the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, and also that in America, it is very difficult to prove libel, he decides to sue her in the courts in Great Britain. For those not in the know, it seems that the British courts are much more strict as far as limiting one’s speech than American courts are. It seems that British libel laws make the defendant prove they are not libelous, instead of the other way around. In other words, in Britain, one is libelous until they can prove otherwise. This is completely antithetical to the American system, where one is innocent until proven guilty. The terrorist loving Mahfouz knew this, so he chose to sue her in Britain because some of her books were sold in Britain.
Of course, Ehrenfeld lost the case in Britain (otherwise we wouldn’t be talking about this). She then appealed to the United States Court of Appeals because as an American, she didn’t feel she should be held accountable to the laws of other countries. After all, what good is having the right to free speech, if anyone can squash it from a foreign country? By caving in to this type of legal terrorism, we lose our national sovereignty, and start allowing foreign countries to dictate our laws and interpret our Constitution.
Their decision was that the right to free speech of Americans trumps libelous laws in foreign countries. Here are some excerpts from their conclusion:
“New York should be the last stop on Sheik Mahfouz’s “libel tour.” A contrary decision will not only erode the fundamental free speech rights that this nation has strived to ensure from its founding but also jeopardizes New York’s status as a leading publishing and media center that has deliberately chosen to offer enhanced protection for free expression.”
“The disputed statements in Dr. Ehrenfeld’s book are core political speech.”
“Although couched in the language of personal jurisdiction, Mahfouz’s denial of jurisdiction is really an affirmative assertion of power — his power to silence his critics through strategic libel tourism and the power of foreign courts to regulate American authors and publishers and enjoin their speech in the United States.”
“…this Court should recognize the ability of Dr. Ehrenfeld and other New York authors and journalists to seek meaningful relief in their home forum from the chilling effect of foreign libel judgments and the continued threat of New York enforcement. The Peter Zenger case, which helped establish the freedom of the press in the United States, was decided in 1735 in a courtroom only a few blocks from here. It would therefore be doubly ironic if this case gave foreign libel plaintiffs a blueprint for evading the free speech protections of this country under the guise of state jurisdictional statutes designed to protect due process and discourage forum-shopping in defamation actions.”
(although, I have to admit, I am kinda glad she was in the jurisdiction of the 2nd circuit, and not the 9th circuit)
Technorati Tags: Ehrenfeld, Mahfouz, Terrorisim, First Amendment, Free Speech
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August 2nd, 2007 
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Did you catch today’s Slashdot? In a similar case, a Brit who has been accused of hacking NASA has won the right to contest extradition in front of the House of Lords. People located outside the US shouldn’t be bound by US law, either. Info here.