S. 449 · 111th Congress
Free Speech Protection Act of 2009
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Never voted on. It didn't reach a floor vote before the 111th Congress ended, so it expired. A bill has to be introduced again to be considered in a new Congress.
R
SpecterSponsor3 cosponsors · 2 D, 1 I
2 signed on when it was introduced; the rest joined later. Cosponsors who withdrew aren't shown.
Free Speech Protection Act of 2009 - Allows any U.S. person against whom a lawsuit for defamation is brought in a foreign country for defamation on the basis of the content of any speech by that person that has been published, uttered, or otherwise disseminated in the United States to bring an action in a U.S.
What it does: CRS summary · Introduced in Senate · Feb 13, 2009
Free Speech Protection Act of 2009 - Allows any U.S. person against whom a lawsuit for defamation is brought in a foreign country for defamation on the basis of the content of any speech by that person that has been published, uttered, or otherwise disseminated in the United States to bring an action in a U.S. district court against any person who, or entity which, brought the suit, if: (1) the speech at issue in the foreign lawsuit does not constitute defamation under U.S. law; and (2) the person or entity which brought the foreign lawsuit serves or causes to be served any documents in connection with such foreign lawsuit on a U.S. person.
Allows the award of treble damages if it is determined by a preponderance of the evidence that the person or entity bringing the foreign lawsuit intentionally engaged in a scheme to suppress rights under the First Amendment to the Constitution by discouraging publishers or other media from publishing, or by discouraging financial supporters from employing, retaining, or supporting the research, writing, or other speech of an individual.
Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov
About this bill and sources
Official title: Free Speech Protection Act of 2009
Latest action (Feb 23, 2010): Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings held.
Policy area: Law · Origin: Senate · Introduced: Feb 13, 2009
Official page on Congress.gov · Bill text (GovInfo) · Status record (XML)
No recorded floor vote found.