Law Commons^™

Brief Of Keith N. Hylton As Amicus Curiae In Support Of The Respondents In State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, Petitioner V. Curtis B. Campbell And Inez Preece Campbell, Respondents, Keith N. Hylton

Faculty Scholarship

Virtually all courts accept the view that high punitive damage awards are appropriate in instances where the defendant's harmful conduct is unlikely to lead to liability. See, e.g., BMW of N. Am. Inc. v. Gore, 517 U.S. 559, 582 (1996). The Utah Supreme Court reinstated the $145 million punitive damage award in this case in part on the ground that "State Farm's actions, because of their clandestine nature, will be punished at most in one out of every 50,000 cases as a matter of statistical probability." Pet App. 30a. A central issue of this case is whether the Utah Supreme …