James v. Meow Media was a lawsuit filed in 1999 by families of three girls killed by student Michael Carneal. The lawsuit claimed that several entertainment companies should be held responsible for the girls' deaths in the 1997 Heath High School shooting in Paducah, Kentucky. Jack Thompson, a Miami anti-videogame activist and former attorney, filed the $33 million federal products liability class action lawsuit. Carneal shot at a group of fellow students as they were leaving a before-school prayer group in the school's lobby, killing three and wounding five. Carneal was sentenced to life in prison . Defendants included Time Warner Inc., Polygram Film Entertainment Distribution Inc., Palm Pictures, Island Pictures, New Line Cinema, Atari Corp., Nintendo of America, Sega of America Inc., and Sony Computer Entertainment.
In 2000, the judge dismissed the suit, citing Kentucky tort law, absolving the companies of responsibility for Carneal's actions . In 2002, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal, and in 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari, refusing to review the case because it was not dismissed on 1st Amendment grounds .
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