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发帖数: 29846 | 1 August 24, 2012
In this day of mounting threats to our freedoms it is time to reinvigorate
our Bill of Rights and so Senator John Kyl (R, AZ) has introduced S. 3493,
The Free Press Act. This bill aims to prevent nuisance lawsuits meant only
to quash freedom of speech, to stop the intimidation of journalists,
bloggers, and those testifying before government.
One would have hoped that such a bill would be unnecessary, but in our day
of increasing attacks on freedom of speech perhaps the time has come to
reaffirm and remind us all of the legacy our founders left to us.
The biggest development overseas in the campaign to eliminate free speech
and freedom of the press has been the constant use of defamation lawsuits to
silence the sort of speech certain parties are not fond of. These barrage
attacks are often called “lawfare” and, sadly, they have come to our
shores, as well.
In our system these attacks on free speech are called “SLAPP lawsuits.”
These lawsuits come in two varieties, one against people who testify before
government committees or in hearings and, two, increasingly against people
who write opinion editorials or news reports. This could also apply easily
to bloggers.
The method is to sue someone for defamation for giving his opinion “on a
matter of public concern or that relates to a public official or figure.”
In essence, someone that doesn’t like what was said about him on a public
matter can launch a nuisance lawsuit in the hopes of cowing someone else and
dampening their free speech. Plain and simple, these nuisance lawsuits are
meant for the single purpose of getting someone to shut up.
Sadly, these frivolous suits are not at all uncommon. A recent search found
many thousands of them going back decades. These lawsuits have simply gotten
out of hand and Kyl’s bill attempts to provide a more instantaneous remedy
to put an end to the mess such lawsuits create.
The short summary of the bill states that the bill is meant, “to protect
first amendment rights of journalists and internet service providers by
preventing States and the United States from allowing meritless lawsuits
arising from acts in furtherance of those rights, commonly called ‘
Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation’ or ‘SLAPPs’, and for
other purposes.”
As Kyl said in a statement about his bill, the Free Press Act, “would
create a Federal anti-SLAPP statute for journalists, bloggers, and other
news media, authorizing them to bring a special motion to dismiss lawsuits
brought against them that arise out of their speech on public issues. Once
the special motion to dismiss is brought, the nonmoving party must present a
prima facie case supporting the lawsuit; if the nonmovant fails to do so,
the lawsuit is dismissed and fees and costs are awarded to the movant.”
In other words, the FPA would force those initiating frivolous SLAPP
lawsuits to justify their case before moving forward. If they can’t
convince a judge that their case is solid, it is immediately thrown out.
This bill also would force the plaintiff to pay the defendant’s costs if
his SLAPP suit is dismissed.
Senator Kyl is finding support for this bill across the spectrum from
journalist groups, to free speech advocates, to conservatives and even some
liberals, this bill is getting vocal support. It is currently in the
Committee on the Judiciary in the Senate. More Americans need to know of the
existence of this bill so they can urge their representatives and senators
to get behind it. |
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