United States · Bill · S
S. 449 (111th)
Free Speech Protection Act of 2009
Introduced
13 February 2009
Last action
—
Status
Committee on the Judiciary. Hearings held.
Sponsors
—
Subjects
Discovery layer
Source updated
10 August 2026
Summary
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.
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Timeline
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Votes
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Versions
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Documents
3 official files
Introduced in Senate (text)
Introduced in Senate · EN · 13 February 2009
Introduced in Senate (PDF)
Introduced in Senate · EN · 13 February 2009
Introduced in Senate
summary · EN · 13 February 2009
Sponsors
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Related records
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Sources
PoliticalRepo is an index and interpretation layer, not the authoritative legal source.
- Official source: https://www.congress.gov/bill/111th-congress/senate-bill/449
- Open data entity: https://api.congress.gov/v3/bill/111/s/449