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What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor? Reprehensibility, The Exxon Valdez And Punitive Damages, Charles S. Doskow
What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor? Reprehensibility, The Exxon Valdez And Punitive Damages, Charles S. Doskow
Charles S Doskow
Under the Supreme Court's due process analysis of the constitutionality of punitive damage awards, in the BMW and State Farm cases, reprehensibility is the first factor considered. The Ninth Circuit's opinion in the Exxon Valdez oil spill case contains a detailed analysis of the elements of reprehensibility. The Supreme Court, on appeal of the Ninth Circuit's decision upholding punitive damages of $2.5 billion, avoided constitutional analysis and applied maritime law. The Court limited punitive damages to the amount of compensatory damages, a 1:1 ratio. Whether this standard will be applied outside the maritime area, to future awards evaluated under due …