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Pierce v. the Clarion Ledger
District Court, S.D. Mississippi (2006) | 452 F. Supp. 2d 661; 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 67245; 2006 WL 2663001
TL;DR: The subject of a defamatory newspaper article sued for breach of contract, alleging the reporter broke a promise to her source not to publish until verifying the information. The court dismissed the claim, finding a reporter's promise to a source is a moral, not a legally enforceable, contractual obligation.
Legal Significance: This case establishes that under Mississippi law, an agreement between a journalist and a source is generally not a legally enforceable contract because it lacks the requisite consideration and intent to be legally bound, being viewed instead as a moral or ethical commitment.