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Punitive Damages: A Relic That Has Outlived Its Origins, James B. Sales, Kenneth B. Cole, Jr.

Vanderbilt Law Review

The doctrine of punitive damages truly is an ancient legal concept that inexplicably has evaded commitment to the archives of history. Irrespective of the questionable validity of the doctrine at early common law, the simple fact remains that none of the historical justifications supports the punitive damage theory in today's tort reparations system. The quest to bestow increasing compensation no longer can justify punitive damage awards because actual damages currently recoverable compensate plaintiffs more than adequately for every conceivable element of physical, emotional, or imagined injury. The desire to inflict punishment, likewise, represents an insupportable basis for awarding quasi-criminal fines …

Case Digest, Law Review Staff

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Point of Final Loading and Routing is Place of Shipment for Purposes of Valuing Lost Cargo; Private Carrier's Both-to-Blame Clause is Enforceable---Allseas Maritime, S.A. v. M/V Mimosa, 574 F. Supp. 844 (S.D. Tex. 1983).

LAND-BASED NEGLIGENCE CAUSING AN AIRPLANE CRASH IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS FALLS WITHIN ADMIRALTY JURISDICTION--Miller v. United States, 18 Av. CAS. (CCH) 17,912 (11th Cir. 1984).

FREIGHT FORWARDER WHO BREACHES A FIDUCIARY DUTY TO HIS SHIPPER VIOLATES THE WIRE FRAUD STATUTE--United States v. Armand Ventura, 724 F.2d 305 (2d Cir. 1983).

IN PERSONAM JURISDICTION OBTAINED BY ATTACHMENT OF PROPERTY IS DIFFERENT FROM IN REM JURISDICTION--Belcher Co. v. MIV …