Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Rachel's Law Passes   [Candace de Russy]

Halleluiah! Yesterday the New York state legislature passed the Libel Terrorism Protection Act, as indicated in this press release posted by Bruce Kesler, who has also been closely following the events leading up to the law's adoption.

The legislation is being dubbed “Rachel’s Law” after Rachel Ehrenfeld, who fought tooth and nail for its passage to protect American journalists and authors from foreign defamation lawsuits that infringe on their First Amendment rights.

Academic writers throughout the nation, and especially those engaged in telling the truth about terrorism and its perpetrators, should hail the law for fortifying their rights — and join Ehrenfeld in her fight for similar legislation at the federal level. In the words of New York Assemblyman Rory Lancman, who co-sponsored the law, at YouTube:

This law will protect our journalists and authors from trumped-up libel charges in kangaroo courts in overseas jurisdictions which don't share our commitment to free speech and freedom of the press . . . This law will give New York's journalists, authors, and press the protection and tools they need to continue to fearlessly expose the truth about terrorism and its enablers, and to maintain New York's place as the free speech capital of the world.

04/01 07:29 PMShare