 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
John v. Coisman11/16/2001
In Cooper and Gore, there was no applicable statute that limited the amount of punitive damages that could be awarded. Moreover, there is no federal statute of which I am aware that generally places limits on the amount of punitive damages that may be awarded in all cases. The Court in Gore recognized that many states do not have legislation that limits the amount of punitive damages when it observed:
In our federal system, States necessarily have considerable flexibility in determining the level of punitive damages that they will allow in different classes of cases and in any particular case. Most States that authorize exemplary damages afford the jury similar latitude, requiring only that the damages awarded be reasonably necessary to vindicate the State's legitimate interests in punishment and deterrence. See TXO [Prod. v. Alliance Res. Corp.], 509 U.S. , at 456, 113 S. Ct., at 2719; [Pacific Mut. Life Ins. Co. v.] Haslip, 499 U.S. , at 21-22, 111 S. Ct., at 1045, 1045-1046. Only when an award can fairly be categorized as "grossly excessive" in relation to these interests does it enter the zone of arbitrariness that violates the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Cf. TXO, 509 U.S., at 456, 113 S. Ct., at 2719. Gore, 517 U.S. at 568.
Justice Breyer, in his concurring opinion in Gore, noted that the Alabama statute that allowed recovery of punitive damages in that case placed no limits on the amount that would have restricted the discretion of the jury in making the award that would have placed it within the confines of what was constitutionally acceptable. Justice Breyer noted that other states have enacted statutes that place limits on the amount of punitive damage awards and thereby limit the discretion that could be utilized in making the award when he stated:
here are no other legislative enactments here that classify awards and impose quantitative limits that would significantly cabin the fairly unbounded discretion created by the absence of constraining legal standards. Cf., e.g., Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. § 41.008 (Supp. 1996) (punitive damages generally limited to greater of double damages, or $200,000, except cap does not apply to suits arising from certain serious criminal acts enumerated in the statute); Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-240b (1995) (punitive damages may not exceed double compensatory damages in product liability cases); Fla. Stat. § 768.73(1) (Supp. 1993) (punitive damages in certain actions limited to treble compensatory damages); Ga. Code Ann. § 51-12-5.1(g) (Supp. 1995) ($250,000 cap in certain actions). Gore, 517 U.S. at 595 (emphasis supplied).
Justice Breyer then observed that without limits similar to those imposed by the above referenced state statutes, the award in Gore, which was rendered pursuant to an unrestricted statute, was both "(a) the product of a system of standards that did not significantly constrain a court's, and hence a jury's, discretion in making that award; and (b) grossly excessive in light of the State's legitimate punitive damages objectives." Id.
The Court in Cooper recognized that legislative enactments that appropriately restrict the amount of punitive damages do not violate the Eighth Amendment when it specified the limits of its holding:
We express no opinion on the question whether Gasperini [v. Center for Humanities, Inc., 518 U.S. 415 (1996)] would govern - and de novo review would be inappropriate-if a State were to adopt a scheme that tied the award of punitive damages more tightly to the jury's finding of compensatory damages. This might be the case, for example, if the State's scheme constrained a jury to award only the exact amount of punitive damages
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Florida DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|