Opinion ID: 2632356
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: procedural versus substantive due process

Text: {11} The United States Supreme Court indicated in a series of cases preceding BMW that excessive punitive damages awards may constitute a violation of a defendant's substantive due process rights. See Aetna Life Ins. Co. v. Lavoie, 475 U.S. 813, 828-29, 106 S.Ct. 1580, 89 L.Ed.2d 823 (1986) (case disposed of on other grounds); Bankers Life & Cas. Co. v. Crenshaw, 486 U.S. 71, 76, 108 S.Ct. 1645, 100 L.Ed.2d 62 (1988) (declining to reach issue); Browning-Ferris Indus. of Vermont v. Kelco Disposal, Inc., 492 U.S. 257, 276-77, 109 S.Ct. 2909, 106 L.Ed.2d 219 (1989) (reflecting explicit recognition by Court that Due Process Clause places some limits on the size of punitive damages awards); Pac. Mut. Life Ins. Co. v. Haslip, 499 U.S. 1, 23, 111 S.Ct. 1032, 113 L.Ed.2d 1 (1991) (calling a four to one ratio of punitive to compensatory damages substantively close to the line); TXO Prod. Corp. v. Alliance Res. Corp., 509 U.S. 443, 453-54, 113 S.Ct. 2711, 125 L.Ed.2d 366 (1993) (plurality opinion) (stating Due Process Clause imposes substantive limits `beyond which penalties may not go') (quoting Seaboard Air Line Ry. Co. v. Seegers, 207 U.S. 73, 78, 28 S.Ct. 28, 52 L.Ed. 108 (1907)). {12} The review in Haslip and TXO strongly emphasized the procedural component of the Due Process Clause. The Court in TXO stressed the importance of procedural regularity as underpinning any substantive analysis: Assuming that fair procedures were followed, a judgment that is a product of that process is entitled to a strong presumption of validity. Indeed, there are persuasive reasons for suggesting that the presumption should be irrebuttable or virtually so. TXO, 509 U.S. at 457 (plurality opinion) (citation omitted). After these cases, the door remained open for defendants to argue that their particular punitive damages award was `grossly excessive' and therefore an arbitrary deprivation of property in violation of substantive due process. Neil B. Stekloff, Note, Raising Five Eyebrows: Substantive Due Process Review of Punitive Damages Awards After BMW v. Gore, 29 Conn. L.Rev. 1797, 1806 (1997) [hereinafter Raising Five Eyebrows ]. The Court granted certiorari in BMW to help ... illuminate `the character of the standard that will identify unconstitutionally excessive awards' of punitive damages. BMW, 517 U.S. at 568 (quoting Honda Motor Co. v. Oberg, 512 U.S. 415, 420, 114 S.Ct. 2331, 129 L.Ed.2d 336 (1994)). Thus, after concentrating on the procedural aspects of punitive damages awards, the Court undertook to expand the analysis and deal straightforwardly with the end result of the processthe substantive validity of the award. The uncertainty over exactly how objective standards for the assessment of punitive damages may be drawn from ... [ BMW ] gives renewed importance to the presumption of validity of the award that arises when fair procedures are followed.... The degree to which the concurring opinion in BMW focuses on the importance of following fair procedures seems to suggest their discomfort with reviewing courts setting arbitrary levels that define excessive punitive damage awards. Douglas G. Harkin, BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore: A Trial Judge's Guide to Jury Instructions and Judicial Review of Punitive Damage Awards, 60 Mont. L.Rev. 367, 384-85 (1999). We determine that in order to afford meaningful review of the substantive aspect of the punitive damages award in this case, we must ascertain that the procedures used to arrive at the award were fair.