text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Free Speech Protection Act of 
  2008''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      The Congress finds the following:
              (1) The freedom of speech and the press is enshrined in the 
          First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
              (2) Free speech, the free exchange of information, and the 
          free expression of ideas and opinions are essential to the 
          functioning of representative democracy in the United States.
              (3) The free expression and publication by journalists, 
          academics, commentators, experts, and others of the information 
          they uncover and develop through research and study is 
          essential to the formation of sound public policy and thus to 
          the security of Americans.
              (4) The First Amendment jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, 
          articulated in such precedents as New York Times v. Sullivan, 
          376 U.S. 254 (1964), and its progeny, reflects the fundamental 
          value that Americans place on promoting the free exchange of 
          ideas and information, requiring in cases involving public 
          figures a demonstration of actual malice--that is, that 
          allegedly defamatory, libelous, or slanderous statements about 
          public figures are not merely false but made with knowledge of 
          that falsity or with reckless disregard of their truth or 
          falsity.
              (5) Some persons are obstructing the free expression rights 
          of Americans, and the vital interest of the American people in 
          receiving information on matters of public importance, by first 
          seeking out foreign jurisdictions that do not provide the full 
          extent of free-speech protection that is fundamental in the 
          United States and then suing Americans in such jurisdictions in 
          defamation actions based on speech uttered or published in the 
          United States--speech that is fully protected under First 
          Amendment jurisprudence in the United States and the laws of 
          the several States and the District of Columbia.
              (6) Some of these actions are intended not only to suppress 
          the free speech rights of journalists, academics, commentators, 
          experts, and other individuals but to intimidate publishers and 
          other organizations that might otherwise disseminate or support 
          the work of those individuals with the threat of prohibitive 
          foreign lawsuits, litigation expenses, and judgments that 
          provide for money damages and other speech-suppressing relief.
              (7) The governments and courts of some foreign countries 
          have failed to curtail this practice, permitting lawsuits filed 
          by persons who are often not citizens of those countries, under 
          circumstances where there is often little or no basis for 
          jurisdiction over the Americans against whom such suits are 
          brought.
              (8) Some of the plaintiffs bringing such suits are 
          intentionally and strategically refraining from filing their 
          suits in the United States, even though the speech at issue was 
          published in the United States, in order to avoid the Supreme 
          Court's First Amendment jurisprudence and frustrate the 
          protections it affords Americans.
              (9) The Americans against whom such suits are brought must 
          consequently endure the prohibitive expense, inconvenience, and 
          anxiety attendant to being sued in foreign courts for conduct 
          that is protected by the First Amendment, or decline to answer 
          such suits and risk the entry of costly default judgments that 
          may be executed in countries other than the United States where 
          those individuals travel or own property.
              (10) Journalists, academics, commentators, experts, and 
          others subjected to such suits are suffering concrete and 
          profound financial and professional damage for engaging in 
          conduct that is protected under the United States Constitution 
          and essential to informing the American people, their 
          representatives, and other policy-makers.
              (11) In turn, the American people are suffering concrete 
          and profound harm because they, their representatives, and 
          other government policymakers rely on the free expression of 
          information, ideas, and opinions developed by responsible 
          journalists, academics, commentators, experts, and others for 
          the formulation of sound public policy, including national 
          security policy.
              (12) The United States respects the sovereign right of 
          other countries to enact their own laws regarding speech, and 
          seeks only to protect the First Amendment rights of Americans 
          in connection with speech that occurs, in whole or in part, in 
          the United States.
  
  SEC. 3. FEDERAL CAUSE OF ACTION.
  
      (a) Cause of Action.--Any United States person against whom a 
  lawsuit is brought in a foreign country for defamation on the basis of 
  the content of any writing, utterance, or other speech by that person 
  that has been published, uttered, or otherwise disseminated in the 
  United States may bring an action in a United States district court 
  specified in subsection (f) against any person who, or entity which, 
  brought the foreign suit if the writing, utterance, or other speech at 
  issue in the foreign lawsuit does not constitute defamation under 
  United States law.
      (b) Jurisdiction.--It shall be sufficient to establish jurisdiction 
  over the person or entity bringing a foreign lawsuit described in 
  subsection (a) that such person or entity has filed the lawsuit against 
  a United States person, or that such United States person has assets in 
  the United States against which the claimant in the foreign action 
  could execute if a judgment in the foreign lawsuit were awarded.
      (c) Remedies.--
              (1) Order to bar enforcement and other injunctive relief.--
          If the cause of action set forth in subsection (a) is 
          established, the district court shall order that any foreign 
          judgment in the foreign lawsuit in question may not be enforced 
          in the United States, including by any Federal, State, or local 
          court, and may order such other injunctive relief that the 
          court considers appropriate to protect the right to free speech 
          under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
              (2) Damages.--In addition to the remedy under paragraph 
          (1), damages may be awarded to the United States person 
          bringing the action under subsection (a), based on the 
          following:
                      (A) The amount of the foreign judgment.
                      (B) The costs, including all legal fees, 
                  attributable to the foreign lawsuit that have been 
                  borne by the United States person.
                      (C) The harm caused to the United States person due 
                  to decreased opportunities to publish, conduct 
                  research, or generate funding.
      (d) Treble Damages.--If, in an action brought under subsection (a), 
  the factfinder determines by a preponderance of the evidence that the 
  person or entity bringing the foreign lawsuit at issue intentionally 
  engaged in a scheme to suppress First Amendment rights by discouraging 
  publishers or other media not to publish, or discouraging employers, 
  contractors, donors, sponsors, or similar financial supporters not to 
  employ, retain, or support, the research, writing, or other speech of a 
  journalist, academic, commentator, expert, or other individual, the 
  factfinder may award treble damages.
      (e) Expedited Discovery.--Upon the filing of an action under 
  subsection (a), the court may order expedited discovery if the court 
  determines, based on the allegations in the complaint, that the speech 
  at issue in the foreign defamation action is protected by the First 
  Amendment to the United States Constitution.
      (f) Venue.--An action under subsection (a) may be brought by a 
  United States person only in a United States district court in which 
  the United States person is domiciled, does business, or owns real 
  property that could be executed against in satisfaction of a judgment 
  in the foreign defamation lawsuit giving rise to the action.
      (g) Timing of Action; Statute of Limitations.--
              (1) Timing.--An action under subsection (a) may be 
          commenced after the filing of the defamation lawsuit in a 
          foreign country on which the action is based.
              (2) Statute of limitations.--For purposes of section 
          1658(a) of title 28, United States Code, the cause of action 
          under subsection (a) accrues on the date on which the 
          defamation lawsuit in a foreign country on which the cause of 
          action is based is filed.
  
  SEC. 4. APPLICABILITY.
  
      This Act applies with respect to any foreign lawsuit that is 
  described in section 3(a) and is brought in the foreign country 
  concerned before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
  
  SEC. 5. CONSTRUCTION.
  
      Nothing in this Act limits the right of foreign litigants who bring 
  good faith defamation actions to prevail against journalists, 
  academics, commentators, and others who have failed to adhere to 
  standards of professionalism by publishing false information 
  maliciously or recklessly.
  
  SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.
  
      In this Act:
              (1) Defamation.--The term ``defamation'' means any action 
          for defamation, libel, slander, or similar claim alleging that 
          forms of speech are false or have caused damage to reputation.
              (2) Foreign country.--The term ``foreign country'' means 
          any country other than the United States.
              (3) Foreign judgment.--The term ``foreign judgment'' means 
          any judgment of a foreign country, including the court system 
          of a foreign country, that grants or denies any form of relief, 
          including injunctive relief and monetary damages, in a 
          defamation action.
              (4) United states.--The term ``United States'' means the 
          several States, the District of Columbia, and any commonwealth, 
          territory, or possession of the United States.
              (5) United states person.--The term ``United States 
          person'' includes a United States citizen, an alien lawfully 
          admitted for permanent residence to the United States, and a 
          business entity lawfully doing business in the United States.
target: Free Speech Protection Act of 2008 - Allows any U.S. person against whom a lawsuit for defamation is brought in a foreign country 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 the speech at issue in the foreign lawsuit does not constitute defamation under U.S. law.
  
  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.
feat_title: To create a Federal cause of action to determine whether defamation exists under United States law in cases in which defamation actions have been brought in foreign courts against United States persons on the basis of publications or speech in the United States.