Punitive Damages Flashcards
What type of law are punitive damages available in?
Common Law and Statutory Law
What are the goals of punitive damages?
Punish the defendant and deter future potential defendants.
Are punitive damages about the plaintiff’s rightful position?
No, because it does not fairly compensate the plaintiff.
What type of conduct makes punitive damages available? And some examples?
Culpable conduct
Like:
Gross negligence
Malice
Reckless Disregard
(A conduct that needs deterring).
What type of conduct must be present in Arkansas to get punitive damages?
Knowingly doing something and then doing it with malice or reckless disregard.
Does every state allow punitive damages?
Some states bar punitive damages, and some states limit them.
Who determines when conduct is culpable enough for punitive damages?
Juries decide is the culpability of the conduct is high enough for punitive damages, and they choose how much should be used to punish.
Why are punitive damages controversial?
For the most part punitive damages are made up, in the same way noneconomic damages are.
How does the Supreme Court tell us to use punitive damages?
Supreme Court says punitive damages should show restraint, so they should use ratios to try and not remain unpredictable.
Can a jury know how much money a defendant has?
Punitive damages allow for juries to know how much money the defendant has, but in no other instance is this okay.
In Arkansas, what kind of damages must be present for punitive damages to be added on?
You must have compensatory damages to have punitive damages, having merely nominal damages is not enough.
Where do damage caps exist for punitive damages?
Contract Law
Constitutional Limit on Punitive Damages: What is Substantive Due Process?
Where the award is so large it simply is not justified by the state’s interest in punishment.
Constitutional Limit on Punitive Damages: Procedural Due Process? (Appellate)
Is there sufficient appellate review of the punitive damages to ensure they were fair?
Hell no, very little review.
Constitutional Limit on Punitive Damages: Substantive Due Process: What are the 3 guideposts (to nowhere)?
1) Level of Reprehensibility
2) “Reasonable Relationship” between compensatory damages and punitive damages
3) Criminal or Civil Penalties for comparable conduct
Constitutional Limit on Punitive Damages: Guidepost 1) Level of Reprehensibility: Generally:
Physical harm is considered greater than economic harm.
Lying is bad too (fraud) (worse than recklessness)
Repeated conduct is bad too.
This is the hardest to apply, but also the most important to apply.
Constitutional Limit on Punitive Damages: Guidepost 2) “Reasonable Relationship” between compensatory and punitive damages: Generally
Court (in State Farm) suggests that if the compensatory amount is high it should lessen the ratio. (maybe even just 1:1) (maybe if they are low the ratio should be higher) (over single digit ratios are bad)
Courts like to use this one, even though it is hard to apply.
Constitutional Limit on Punitive Damages: Guidepost 3) Criminal or Civil Penalties for comparable conduct: Generally
Easiest to apply
Rarely ever Applied
Constitutional Limit on Punitive Damages: Substantive Due Process General Rule (pretty long)
A defendant’s dissimilar acts, independent from the acts upon which liability was premised, may not serve as basis for punitive damages.
A defendant should be punished for the conduct that harmed the plaintiff not for being an unsavory individual or business.
Constitutional Limit on Punitive Damages: Procedural Due Process Rule
You cannot punish someone for harming nonparties.
Why? defendant does not have a chance to defend against that nonparties’ claim.
Constitutional Limit on Punitive Damages: When can a jury slightly use procedural due process?
Juries can still look at the harm of the nonparties when determining how reprehensible an act is.
