The letter, written by Hilary O. Shelton, Director of the NAACP Washington Bureau and Senior VP for Advocacy and Policy, stated that the NAACP supports H.R. 4364 “due in part to the numerous times that NAACP members raised legitimate complaints about clearly improper actions, including cases of improper racial discrimination and were unjustly sued for their courageous efforts.”

“Special interests and local government officials, who don’t like their misdeeds made known to the world, increasingly use SLAPP suits as vicious weapons to silence hard-working employees, constituents, customers, tenants and other whistleblowers.  They know that such suits, although totally meritless, can be brought with impunity and effectively intimidate and silence both those whom they sue and others who are deterred from speaking up.  The need for a federal statutory remedy is clear.”

“The NAACP’s support of the Citizen Participation Act will help move the measure forward in Congress,” said Congressman Cohen.  “SLAPP suits have long been used to intimidate critics with meritless defamation lawsuits.  The Citizen Participation Act is needed to stop those who swindle consumers, steal fiduciary funds, or endanger public health or the environment from using the courts to silence citizens who would speak out against them.  My bill would help put an end to this deplorable practice.”

More than half the states in the country currently have anti-SLAPP legislation, but a federal law is needed to provide relief to the citizens of states without anti-SLAPP protections and to provide an additional tool for all citizens to fend off SLAPP suits.  Congressman Cohen’s measure would provide uniform protection against SLAPP Suits in state and federal court.  The bill would:

• Provide qualified immunity for communications with the government;
• Employ procedural protections to filter groundless cases before the costs and burden of litigation cause defendants to waive their First Amendment rights by “correcting” or silencing themselves as part of a settlement;
• Allow a SLAPP defendant to bring a special motion for early dismissal, and to stay most discovery proceedings pending disposal of the motion; and
• Enable a defendant who prevails on the special motion to recover fees and costs.

Congressman Cohen’s bill is supported by a diverse coalition committed to protecting citizen participation that includes the Alliance for Justice, the Center for Competitive Politics, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Government Accountability Project.

Click here to view the NAACP’s letter to Congressman Steve Cohen.

“You have demonstrated commitment and leadership to protect and advance equal rights and opportunity,” Said NOW PAC Chair Terry O’Neill. “We appreciate the work you have done in office and hope to continue to work with you to achieve equality for women and girls.”

Congressman Cohen will speak at 4:00 PM Thursday, August 26^th at City Hall as part of the 90^th Anniversary Celebration of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which granted women the right to vote.

President Barack Obama signs Congressman Steve Cohen's SPEECH Act into law on August 10, 2010

President Barack Obama will sign the SPEECH Act, sponsored by Congressman Steve Cohen, into law today at 12:10 PM CST.

The SPEECH Act puts an end to “libel tourism”, the practice of exploiting plaintiff-friendly defamation laws in foreign countries in an attempt to silence or intimidate American journalists, authors and publishers.

“Libel tourism threatens to undermine free speech in the U.S. because, with the rise of the internet and foreign courts’ liberal exercise of personal jurisdiction over Americans, foreign defamation law that lacks the constitutionally mandated speech-protective measures of U.S. law can be applied to publications that are substantially or entirely distributed in the U.S.,” said Congressman Cohen during his floor speech.

Supporters of the SPEECH Act include the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Vermont Library Association, the American Library Association, the Association of American Publishers, the American Civil Liberties Union, First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, and former CIA Director James Woolsey.

Click here to view the story on the CNN website.

The SPEECH Act puts an end to “libel tourism”, the practice of exploiting plaintiff-friendly defamation laws in foreign countries in an attempt to silence or intimidate American journalists, authors and publishers.

“Libel tourism threatens to undermine free speech in the U.S. because, with the rise of the internet and foreign courts’ liberal exercise of personal jurisdiction over Americans, foreign defamation law that lacks the constitutionally mandated speech-protective measures of U.S. law can be applied to publications that are substantially or entirely distributed in the U.S.,” said Congressman Cohen during his floor speech.

Supporters of the SPEECH Act include the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Vermont Library Association, the American Library Association, the Association of American Publishers, the American Civil Liberties Union, First Amendment lawyer Floyd Abrams, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, and former CIA Director James Woolsey.

The Commercial Appeal:

Incumbent 9th District Congressman Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., received a $5,000 contribution today from the Congressional Black Caucus political action committee.

“You have been selected to receive this contribution because of your commitment to the CBC PAC’s goals,” Meeks wrote.

With almost $1 million in his campaign account, the amount is immaterial, but its symbolic value is significant because it indicates strong support for him among black colleagues in Congress. His opponent, Willie Herenton, has argued that the district should elect the former Memphis mayor so that one of the 11-member Tennessee Congressional delegation is an African-American.

“The CBC PAC’s mission is to increase the number of African-Americans in the U.S. Congress (and) to support non-black candidates who champion CBC interests,” said the letter from PAC Chairman Gregory W. Meeks, D-N.Y.

Click here to read the rest.

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