Most high schoolers (hopefully) can tell you that freedom of the press was one of the basic founding principles of the United States. Yet, that freedom – as all liberties – has its limits.

A Fort Bend County, Texas, jury recently meted out its own lesson on journalistic responsibility, awarding $1.1 million to an East Texas man who claimed that the Fort Bend Star newspaper defamed him and injured his reputation in a front-page story it published in 2003.

But the newspaper could have forgone the expensive tutorial had it only printed a retraction, says John Zavitsanos, of Houston’s Ahmad Zavitsanos & Anaipakos law firm, which represented the plaintiff.

Wade Brady sued the Star and journalist LeaAnn Klentzman about the front-page story that described alleged tape-recorded meetings between Brady's father, Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Deputy Craig Brady, and deputies involved in a traffic stop that ended with Wade Brady being ticketed as a minor in possession of alcohol.

Wade Brady’s libel suit followed, alleging that Klentzman’s story gave “a false and defamatory impression of the plaintiff" and injured Wade Brady's reputation. The complaint also alleged that Klentzman did not interview any of the three officers involved in the traffic stop, "fabricated many of the statements in the article," and purposely failed to note that Wade Brady was found innocent of the alcohol charge at a 2002 jury trial.

In the libel case, Wade Brady has already obtained a successful ruling at the appellate court level in a mid-case appeal. The defendants say they intend to appeal the matter further.

The Fort Bend County libel case could serve as a tutorial for any publication or journalist on the potential costs of journalistic irresponsibility.