Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
351 F.2d 702 (1965)
- Written by Alexis Tsotakos, JD
Facts
On March 23, 1963, Curtis Publishing Co. (Curtis) (plaintiff) published an article in an issue of the Saturday Evening Post claiming that Wally Butts (defendant), the Athletic Director at the University of Georgia, rigged a game the previous fall. Butts brought suit against Curtis Publishing Co., alleging that the article was libelous. At trial, the testimony made clear that Curtis had knowingly published false information. The jury rendered a verdict in favor of Butts, finding $460,000 in general damages and $3,000,000 in punitive damages. Curtis made a motion for a new trial based on the size of the punitive damages awarded, which was granted conditioned upon Butts’ failure to remit the portion of the award above $400,000. Another motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict made by Curtis was denied. Butts filed a remittitur, and a judgment for Butts in the amount of $460,000 was entered. Curtis filed a motion under Rule 60(b) for a new trial and was denied. Curtis appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Spears, J.)
Dissent (Rives, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 802,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
