Excessive Punitives Dismissed by Supreme Ct
Wednesday, October 8th, 2003 LitigationOpening its 2003-04 term on Monday, the Supreme Court rejected excessive punitive awards in separate cases involving Phillip Morris USA, a $79.5 million punitive judgement, and DaimlerChrysler Corp., a $3 million award. The high court vacated both awards ruling that punitive damages exceeding nine times the cost of damages violated the Constitution‘s due process clause. In an April 7 State Farm decision, the court strongly suggested that punitive damages should be held to less than double in cases with large compensatory damages. "These are gratifying decisions," said NAMIC‘s Director - Legal and Regulatory Affairs Peter Bisbecos. "It appears that the United States Supreme Court has lost patience with courts that continued to ignore it‘s decision in BMW v. Gore."
