During the past six weeks I have been recovering from neck surgery. I suppose I had the unrealistic idea that after having four vertebrae wired together and a piece of bone taken out of my hip, I was going to be up, working at the computer three days later. I was very much mistaken.

So, for six weeks, I have been flat on my back for most of the time and watching the "Jenny Jones Show Trial" on Court TV. The decision, shortly before my surgery, to buy a satellite dish (and therefore access to Court TV) has helped to save my sanity during this long recovery. I can watch a good trial all day long, and the "Jenny Jones Show Trial" is a doozie.

This is a civil trial in which the family of Scott Amadure is suing Warner Brothers (the owners of the Jenny Jones Show). Scott Amadure appeared on a "Secret Crush" episode of the Jenny Jones. On this show, Amadure revealed to his friend Jonathan Schmitz that he had a crush on him. Three days after the taping, Schmitz bought a shotgun, went to Amadure's trailer, and unloaded it in Amadure's chest. When it was all over, Amadure was lying in his living room clutching his chest, smoke rising out of the wound.

You might think that the Amadure family would be suing Jonathan Schmitz, but their argument is that the Jenny Jones Show was a cause (not necessarily THE cause) of the shooting because they were negligent in putting someone as mentally unstable as Jonathan Schmitz in the position of having a gay man announce on national television that he found Schmitz attractive. In other words, the plaintiffs are arguing that the program's design is to humiliate and embarrass people in order to make money, and if they are willing to do so, they should be held financially responsible for repercussions.

To make the trial more interesting, the plaintiff's attorney is Jeffrey Feiger, the lawyer who formerly represented Jack Kevorkian and also recently ran for Governor in Michigan.

Feiger has a mouth, and doesn't hesitate to use it. He may get away with behavior that would land lawyers (from other jurisdictions) in jail, but he is fascinating to watch. He complains. He objects. He expresses dismay, outrage, contempt, disbelief. He calls the defense lawyer a liar, and even makes jokes in court about strangling the defense attorney with his own tie. It makes for great dramatic television, and whatever the commentators think about his behavior, he wins cases. He passionately believes in the justness of his client's cause. And, if I needed an attorney, I sure would like to have him on my side.

He has managed to make the "trash talk show" industry look very tawdry indeed. In his case he has repeatedly brought up episodes such as "Women Who Admit to their Husbands that they Have Had Sex While Pregnant" or "Mothers and Daughters who have had Babies by the Same Man" "Bachelor Parties that Ruined Marriages." For the life of me, I can't understand what social value shows like this have, and the subject matter does seem to be begging for trouble.

But on the other side, however mentally unstable Schmitz was, he agreed to be on the program, and if some of the evidence is to be believed, Schmitz admitted to a number of people that he knew that this was a "Same Sex Crush" episode, and agreed to appear. The repercussions of a large jury award in favor of the Amadure family are significant. If the jury finds that the show was negligent for not screening participants more carefully, it may open the door for not only other shows, but other businesses to delve into the mental health background of employees and even non-employees visiting their premises.

Even though the general consensus of the commentators is that a large jury award will be significantly reduced by an appellate court (as large jury awards frequently are), the effect on businesses may be significant. This may represent yet another arena in which what we used to consider private information is made public.

As I finish this article, Court TV is reporting that the jury in this case has found the Jenny Jones Show liable and has awarded the Amadure family $25 million dollars.