Torts Commons^™

The Impact Of Recent U.S. Supreme Court Punitive Damages Jurisprudence On Oklahoma's Punitive Damages Statute And Jury Instructions, Andrew C. Jayne

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Corrective Justice In Contract Law: Is There A Case For Punitive Damages?, Curtis Bridgeman

Vanderbilt Law Review

Twentieth-century American legal theory has been dominated by utilitarian and economic approaches. As a result, scholarly analyses of contract and tort law have focused on the public effects of the resolution of private disputes. But in the last twenty years or so justice has undergone a renaissance as so-called corrective-justice theorists have tried to shift the discussion in private law back to the relationships between individual parties. Tort law has been a particularly fertile ground for corrective-justice theorists, and a lively debate has developed about what the best corrective-justice account of tort law would look like.

By contrast, comparatively little …

The Insurability Of Punitive Damages In Washington: Should Insureds Who Engage In Intentional Misconduct Reap The Benefit Of Their "Bargains?", Stephanie L. Grassia

Seattle University Law Review

This Note examines the issue of the insurability of punitive damages, concluding that insurance coverage should not be allowed for punitive damages arising from intentional misconduct because such coverage contravenes public policy in the state of Washington. Part I defines and provides background for punitive damages and malicious prosecution. Part II outlines and synthesizes the treatment of the insurability of punitive damages in various states. The facts of the Fluke case, including the Court of Appeals's rationale that insurance coverage for punitive damages is not against public policy in Washington, are detailed in Part III. The next section reveals the …

The Impact Of State Prohibitions Of Punitive Damages On Libel Litigation: An Empirical Analysis, Dennis Hale

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Article explores the role of punitive damages in media libel cases by measuring the quantity and quality of libel appeals for a ten-year period in states with and without punitive damages. Specifically, the Article identifies appellate court decisions for media libel cases over a ten year period from 1986 to 1995, comparing five states with punitive damages (Alabama, New Mexico, South Carolina, South Dakota and Tennessee) to five states without punitive damages (Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, Oregon and Washington). Each appeal of a federal or state media libel case was coded for the following characteristics: year, whether the media won …

Punitive Damages: Cooper Industries V. Leatherman Tool Group: Will A Constitutional Objection To The Excessiveness Of A Punitive Damages Award Save Defendants From Oklahoma's Punitive Damages Statute, Amanda L. Maxfield

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Crimtorts" As Corporate Just Deserts, Thomas Koenig, Michael Rustad

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Just as Grant Gilmore described "contorts" that lie on the borderline between contract and tort law, the authors coin the term "crimtort" to identify the expanding common ground between criminal and tort law. Although the concept of crimtort can be broadly applied to many areas of the law, this Article focuses on the primary crimtort remedy - punitive damages. The deterrent power of punitive damages lies in the wealth-calibration of the defendant's punishment. For corporations this means that punitive damages will reflect the firm's net income or net worth. The theoretical danger is that juries will abuse wealth by redistributing …

Tort Reform 1997-98: Profits V. People, Kenneth D. Kranz

Florida State University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Recalibrating The Scales Of Justice Through National Punitive Damage Reform, Kimberly A. Pace

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Tis Better To Give Than To Receive: Charitable Donations Of Medical Malpractice Punitive Damages, Nicholas M. Miller

Journal of Law and Health

The purpose of this Note is not to answer the question of how excessive medical malpractice and punitive damage awards are. Many highly respected scholars on different sides of the issue have spent large portions of their careers trying to resolve that issue without finding a common ground. This author does not boldly claim to provide an answer in this limited forum. This Note does, however, address a possible source of public frustration with the state of medical malpractice and punitive damages: the lack of a principled basis for the awards that juries give to the victims. The perception among …

Limits On Preemption And Punitive Damages: Can They Be Related?, Peter Zablotsky

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Other Accident" Evidence In Product Liability Actions: Highly Probative Or An Accident Waiting To Happen?, Robert A. Sachs

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Constitutionality Of State Allocation Of Punitive Damage Awards, Paul F. Kirgis

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Punitive Damages And Regulated Products, Teresa Moran Schwartz

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Poetic Justice: Punitive Damages And Legal Pluralism, Marc Galanter, David Luban

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Historical Continuity Of Punitive Damages Awards: Reforming The Tort Reformers, Michael Rustad, Thomas Koenig

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Poetic Justice: Punitive Damages And Legal Pluralism, Marc Galanter, David Luban

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Punitive Damages And Regulated Products, Teresa Moran Schwartz

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Historical Continuity Of Punitive Damages Awards: Reforming The Tort Reformers, Michael Rustad, Thomas Koenig

American University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Exclusion Of Personal Injury Damages: Have The Courts Gone Too Far?, Susan K. Matlow

Vanderbilt Law Review

The Internal Revenue Code (Code) sweeps into gross income "all income from whatever source derived," including, but not limited to, compensation for services, interest, dividends, rents, and alimony payments.' Specific statutory exclusions may exempt from gross income certain items that Congress has determined deserve favorable tax treatment. One such exclusion, section 104(a)(2), provides that gross income shall not include "the amount of any damages received (whether by suit or agreement and whether as lump-sums or as periodic payments) on account of personal injuries or sickness."' Congress enacted section 104(a)(2)'s predecessor in 1918," and in spite of subsequent revolutionary tax reform, …

Punitive Damages In Libel Cases-First Amendment Equalizer?, Jerome A. Barron

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Punishment: The Civil Perspective Of Punitive Damages, Bailey Kuklin

Cleveland State Law Review

Punitive, or exemplary damages, have been recognized in the Anglo-American common law systems for two centuries. This Article explores the consequences of treating punitive damages as a private means of punishment. Light is shed on the controversies surrounding, first, the attempt to adopt a standard of punishment, private or public, and second, to apply such a standard. The concentration on punitive damages for this exploratory undertaking, instead of criminal sanctions, avoids the need to account for additional imputed public penal purposes, such as rehabilitation and isolation. As a preliminary matter, the emphasis of this Article should be made clear. The …

The Constitutionality Of Punitive Damages Under The Excessive Fines Clause Of The Eighth Amendment, Andrew M. Kenefick

Michigan Law Review

This Note explores whether courts should look beyond the broad language in Ingraham v. Wright and scrutinize punitive damages under the excessive fines clause. Part I sets out the intuitive argument that punitive damages are analogous to criminal fines. Part II analyzes the Supreme Court's decision in Ingraham v. Wright and also reviews the few federal and state court decisions that have dealt with the excessive fines clause in civil cases, most of which have concluded that the clause has no application in a civil setting. This Part asserts that courts cannot rely solely on the Ingraham decision but must …

No Pain—No Gain—Should Personal Injury Damages Keep Their Tax Exempt Status, Douglas K. Chapman

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Moderate And Restrained Federal Product Liability Bill: Targeting The Crisis Areas For Resolution, Aaron D. Twerski

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

In this article I have tried to offer a rational, feasible, and politically acceptable solution to the present product liability crisis. To do this, I have first set out the problem. I explain in Part I how courts have created the crisis by formulating incomprehensible legal standards. In Part II, I examine the difficulties with assessing punitive damages against a defendant. In Part III, I discuss the conflict between the torts and workers' compensation systems. In Part IV, I reflect on the need to protect wholesalers and retailers from needless litigation. Part V suggests that a federal study on the …

The Virginia Conspiracy Statute Part Ii: Liability Of Conspirators For Compelling Another To Act Against His Will Or Constraining Another From Doing A Lawful Act, Joseph E. Ulrich, Killis T. Howard

Washington and Lee Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ingram V. Pettit, 340 So. 2d 922 (Fla. 1976), Charles Law Early, Jr.

Florida State University Law Review

Tort Law- NEGLIGENT INTOXICATED DRIVER LIABLE FOR PUNITIVE DAMAGES WITHOUT PROOF OF ABNORMAL OR RECKLESS DRIVING.

Punitive Damages Under Section 102 Of The Labor-Management Reporting And Disclosure Act, S. Thomas Wienner

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

It is firmly established that in a suit brought under section 102, a union member may ordinarily recover compensatory damages for any injury proximately caused by a violation of Title I or section 609. The courts are divided, however, on the question of whether a plaintiff may be awarded punitive damages under section 102. This article will address that question by discussing the language and the legislative history of section 102, the conflicting decisions of the federal courts, and the relevant policy considerations.

Martin V. Security Services, Inc., 314 So.2d 765 (Fla. 1975), Nancy Ann Daniels

Florida State University Law Review

Torts- WRONGFUL DEATH- FLORIDA'S WRONGFUL DEATH ACT IS CONSTITUTIONAL AND PERMITS PUNITIVE DAMAGES.

Punitive Damages In Products Liability Litigation, David G. Owen

Michigan Law Review

This article will first explore the doctrine of punitive damages and its compatibility with the theories of products liability. The functions of punitive damages and their applicability in the products liability context will then be examined, with particular consideration given to the three complicating factors raised by Judge Friendly in Roginsky. In the following section attention will focus on the various contexts in which manufacturer misconduct has arisen in the reported decisions and a number of unreported cases that have involved this issue. Finally, guidelines will be developed from these cases for determining the appropriateness of punitive damages awards …

Punitive Damages In Wrongful Death, Gary N. Holthus

Cleveland State Law Review

Punitive damages, also known as exemplary damages, smart money, or vindictive damages, are damages awarded to a plaintiff on a finding of malicious, fraudulent, willful, wanton, or reckless conduct by a defendant, indifferent to the rights and safety of others. The purpose of exemplary damages is to protect the public from reckless, willful acts and to punish the wrongdoer