September 30, 2008

The NYT today rightly lauds the passage of a bill in the House of Representatives that would prevent parties who have obtained judgments in libel suits in some foreign courts from enforcing them in U.S. courts. The legislation is intended to discourage the practice of "libel tourism," which refers to the strategic decision of a libel plaintiff to file suit in a venue overseas where substantive protections for free speech are less comprehensive than those that Americans enjoy at home. Britain's notoriously pro-plaintiff libel law makes it a world-wide destination for such claims.