Fact #21826
When:
Short story:
A jury in New York City, USA, awards $3.5m to broadcaster John Henry
Faulk - the largest libel judgment in history to that date.
Faulk had been blacklisted as a communist during the McCarthy era
and had lost his job at CBS as a result. The libel award came at
the end of a five year legal battle for compensation, but an
appeals court subsequently lowered the amount to $500,000. Legal
fees and accumulated debts erased most of the balance of the award.
Faulk's story will inspire the song The Ballad Of John Henry Faulk by folk-protest songwriter
Phil
Ochs.
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