The bill is intended to amend New York's so-called "long-arm statute" in order to give the state's courts jurisdiction over a foreign libel claimant who won a judgment against an author or publisher with sufficient physical or financial ties to the state.

It would allow New York's courts to declare that a foreign judgment was unenforceable if the courts decided that the libel laws in foreign jurisdictions did not protect freedom of speech and the press to the same extent as the laws in New York and the US....

...Dr Ehrenfeld claimed her book, Funding Evil, in which she makes a series of allegations about the charitable activities of wealthy Saudi businessman Sheikh Khalid bin Mahfouz, was protected under the freedom of speech section of the US constitution...

...The Sheikh has always vehemently denied any link with terrorism, or terrorist support or funding, and claimed that the book was defamatory in suggesting that he supported al-Qaeda and terrorism either directly or indirectly.

In January, Democratic Assemblyman Rory Lancman and Republican Senator Dean Skelos introduced the "Libel Terrorism Protection Act" to remedy what they see as a deficiency in the law.

Mr Lancman said: "This legislation 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 capitol of the world."...

...Mr Mahfouz has had a series of victories in English courts, and in August last year, the Cambridge University Press withdrew all copies of Alms for Jihad, a book which took a similar line to Dr Ehrenfeld.

But some American librarians have refused the publishers' request to withdraw the book from their shelves and surviving copies are for sale for hundreds of pounds on the internet.

I would like to request THE TIMES to take a similar stand in England and to encourage MPs and government ministers to support legislation to protect our freedom of speech, as well. What's good for the offspring of English freedoms (America) should be relevant for the Mother Country as well: BRING THE REVOLUTION HOME! SUPPORT FREE SPEECH!