| Chapter : | Introduction |
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permitted by the US Constitution and invited the New York legislature to consider amending New York law.5 The New York Court of Appeals concluded that New York did not have personal jurisdiction over Bin Mahfouz.6 After the New York Court of Appeals furnished its answer, the matter was sent back to the US Court of Appeals where the case was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction over Bin Mahfouz.7
At this point, it is important to note what was and was not an issue. The plaintiff in the London proceedings had won a default judgment that under well-established US law would be incapable of enforcement in any American court as being against public policy. Just as Bin Mahfouz broadcast his victory over the internet, Rachel Ehrenfeld brought a declaratory relief action in New York for the purpose of winning an American judgment that would simply proclaim that the English judgment was a nullity under US law. All Rachel Ehrenfeld was seeking was a statement of how little the English judgment was worth in the eyes of an American court. However, she was denied this relief because the New York court decided that she could not bring an action against Bin Mahfouz in the state of New York. Under existing New York law, if the court had found jurisdiction, judgment in favour of Rachel Ehrenfeld would invariably have followed. All that was decided by the New York courts was that Bin Mahfouz was not subject to New York long-arm jurisdiction because his contacts with New York were too attenuated. The problem, to the extent there was a problem, was with the language of the New York long-arm jurisdiction statute. While none of this sounds particularly earth shattering or even noteworthy, the legislative responses have been precipitous and rather extreme.
Discontented with the final decision of the US Court of Appeals, Rachel Ehrenfeld took her case to the court of public opinion. Henceforth, she became and continues to be a highly effective crusader for press rights. She has successfully mobilised various groups, including the prestigious Association of American Publishers, to her cause. Her first success came in New York, the scene of her judicial defeat. In 2008 the state of New York enacted the Libel Terrorism Protection Act or what is also known as Rachel’s Law and federal legislation known as