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Has The Supreme Court Sounded The Death Knell For Jury Assessed Punitive Damages? A Critical Re-Examination Of The American Jury, Lisa Litwiller

Lisa Litwiller

LAST TERM, the United States Supreme Court drastically altered the balance of power between judge and jury, and the legal community barely noticed. Although Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. is remarkable for what it does overtly - it changes the standard of review in punitive damages cases from an abuse of discretion review to de novo review; it is even more remarkable for what it does covertly - it arguably takes the right to assess punitive damages in the first instance entirely out of the hands of the jury. According to the Court, [u]nlike the measure of …