Gales v. CBS Broadcasting, Inc.

269 F. Supp. 2d 772 (2003)

Study Aids
Case Briefs Overview
Casebooks
Case Briefs
G
From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Gales v. CBS Broadcasting, Inc.

United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi
269 F. Supp. 2d 772 (2003)

Facts

CBS Broadcasting, Inc. (CBS) (defendant) aired a 60 Minutes segment that reported on exceptionally high damages awarded by juries in rural parts of Mississippi, particularly Jefferson County. Nothing in the segment named or otherwise identified any particular jury or juror, and the program referred only to Jefferson County jurors as a whole. Wylanda Gales and other members of the jury for the Jefferson County Circuit Court “Fen Phen” diet-drug trial (collectively, the Fen Phen jurors) (plaintiffs) sued CBS for defamation, libel, and slander. The Fen Phen jury had returned a verdict of $150 million in damages at trial. The Fen Phen jurors argued that the 60 Minutes segment maliciously represented that high-value verdicts were freely awarded in Jefferson County without a legal basis and that Jefferson County was a state hotspot for so-called jackpot justice.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Bramlette, J.)

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 811,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials

  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 811,000 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.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 811,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership

Casebooks

Media Law

Key Terms