Even the formal institution of the Liebeck case made little news. Adjustments, corrections and subsequent events never caught up with these initial, flawed reports. As the Liebeck case submerged anew, the actual, public outcome of her litigation was lost. Now, a mythic outcome endures. Had Stella Liebeck's story arrested attention before or during the trial of her complaint, some or many misconceptions about the nature of her litigation might have been avoided.
Civil cases tend to surface at news worthy points, then dive back into obscurity.
However, the case of Stella Liebeck's coffee resurfaces often, I have observed, in mass media, in legislative debates, in entertainment, on the Internet and in conversation. If cases symbolize some putative social trend, it seems, they can emerge and not submerge. William Haltom is a Puget Sound professor of politics and government.