Changes

==SCOTUS verdict==

==SCOTUS verdict==

Justice Kennedy wrote for the majority, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Stevens, O'Connor, Souter and Breyer, stating that punitive damage awards would be limited by due process to no more than ten times the amount of compensatory damages, with four times being "close to the limit of constitutional impropriety".  Using a prior case (''BMW of North America v. Gore'') the Court gave lower courts three matters to consider: 1) the degree of reprehensibility of the defendant's misconduct, 2) the disparity between the actual or potential harm suffered by the plaintiff and the punitive damages award, and 3) the difference between the punitive damages awarded by the jury and the civil penalties authorized or imposed in comparable cases.

Justice Kennedy wrote for the majority, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Stevens, O'Connor, Souter and Breyer, stating that punitive damage awards would be limited by due process to no more than ten times the amount of [[compensatory damages]], with four times being "close to the limit of constitutional impropriety".  Using a prior case (''BMW of North America v. Gore'') the Court gave lower courts three matters to consider: 1) the degree of reprehensibility of the defendant's misconduct, 2) the disparity between the actual or potential harm suffered by the plaintiff and the punitive damages award, and 3) the difference between the punitive damages awarded by the jury and the civil penalties authorized or imposed in comparable cases.

Interestingly, the three dissenting Justices represented both the conservative (Scalia and Thomas) and the liberal (Ginsburg) wings.  Justices Scalia and Thomas, each writing separately, both stated that the United States Constitution did not provide due process against "excessive" punitive damage awards, while Justice Ginsburg argued that the Court had no authority to rewrite state law concerning the allowable amount of punitive damage awards.

Interestingly, the three dissenting Justices represented both the conservative (Scalia and Thomas) and the liberal (Ginsburg) wings.  Justices Scalia and Thomas, each writing separately, both stated that the United States Constitution did not provide due process against "excessive" punitive damage awards, while Justice Ginsburg argued that the Court had no authority to rewrite state law concerning the allowable amount of punitive damage awards.

[[Category:United States Supreme Court Cases]]

[[Category:United States Supreme Court Cases]]