Opinion ID: 1869049
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Comments directed specifically to the action on application for rehearing

Text: On original deliverance, I concurred in that portion of the majority opinion affirming the judgment conditionally upon the plaintiff's agreement to remit all but $5,000,000 of the punitive damages awarded, and in that portion of the opinion that adopted a procedure requiring a bifurcation of trials in cases in which claims for punitive damages are presented to a jury. I did so even though I pointed out that this Court generally gives notice to the Bench and Bar before adopting such a substantial change in civil procedure. I still concur as to those two holdings. However, I dissented from that portion of the opinion that establishes the policy of allocating 50% of all punitive damages awards, less attorney fees, to the state's general fund, and I expressed concerns over the constitutional implications raised by this decision. I still dissent in that regard. Because I believe that the rehearing applicants and the amici curiae have raised many meritorious arguments in their applications and briefs in support thereof, I must respectfully dissent from the majority's refusal to address many of the important issues raised on rehearing. Life of Georgia applied for a rehearing on December 1, 1995, and it has been supported in its position by amici curiae briefs from the Alabama Defense Lawyers Association; the State of Alabama; Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama; Alabama Gas Corporation; Alfa Insurance Company; the Chamber of Commerce of the United States; the Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc.; USX Corporation; the University of Alabama Health Services Foundation, P.C.; Amerex Corporation; and the Wausau Insurance Companies. Life of Georgia and the amici raise several substantial questions, and they point out why the procedure adopted in this case is not only confusing, but also violates Life of Georgia's constitutional rights, both state and federal. The plaintiff has also filed an application for rehearing. Her application is supported by amicus briefs from the Alabama Trial Lawyers Association and an individual named Mary Lambeth. [24] Although the majority, no doubt persuaded by the excellent and well-reasoned arguments advanced by both the parties and the amici curiae, has modified the opinion to change the effective date of this caselaw and has cleared up some of the confusion in the original opinion regarding when the new procedure would take effect and which cases would be affected, the majority has not addressed some of the basic constitutional arguments pertaining to separation of powers of government and the legal effect of paying into the general fund of the state a portion of the punitive damages. I do not separately address the arguments that Life of Georgia and the amici make, but they include substantial legal issues, especially regarding federal constitutional law. I set out some of these concerns in the main portion of my dissent and I do not restate them here. There is now pending before the United States Supreme Court a case from this Court styled BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore, 646 So.2d 619 (Ala.1994), cert. granted, ___ U.S. ___, 115 S.Ct. 932, 130 L.Ed.2d 879 (1995), in which the petitioner has raised some of the same arguments that are made by Life of Georgia in its application for rehearing. I would have preferred to have the United States Supreme Court's latest expression on the federal constitutional issues raised in BMW before acting on this application for rehearing. My views are that the Eighth Amendment could be implicated where a portion of the punitive damages award goes to the state and that there could be federal constitutional violations where multiple penalties are imposed against a corporation for the same wrongful conduct, where, as here, the wrongful conduct has already been considered in setting the penalty in another case; the wrongful conduct dealt with in this case was considered in Foster v. Life of Georgia, 656 So.2d 333 (Ala.1993) (this Court reinstated a $1 million punitive damages judgment against Life of Georgia for the same conduct complained of in this case). Having read the opinions rendered by the United States Supreme Court and having considered the questions the Justices of that Court are asking during oral arguments in cases involving punitive damages and multiple parties, some of whom may be located outside the forum state, I believe that the judgment in this case presents serious constitutional questions that should be fully answered. See, Honda Motor Corp. v. Oberg, 512 U.S. 415, 114 S.Ct. 2331, 129 L.Ed.2d 336 (1994); TXO Production Corp. v. Alliance Resources Corp., 509 U.S. 443, 113 S.Ct. 2711, 125 L.Ed.2d 366 (1993); Browning-Ferris Industries v. Kelco Disposal, Inc., 492 U.S. 257, 109 S.Ct. 2909, 106 L.Ed.2d 219 (1989). Cf. Young v. United States ex rel. Vuitton et Fils S.A., 481 U.S. 787, 804-08, 107 S.Ct. 2124, 2136-38, 95 L.Ed.2d 740 (1987) (the United States Supreme Court held that counsel for a party that benefits financially from a federal court order may not be appointed as prosecutor in a contempt action alleging a violation of that order). See also, Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez, 372 U.S. 144, 83 S.Ct. 554, 9 L.Ed.2d 644 (1963), which addresses the issue of quasi-criminal statutes. For these reasons and those stated in the main part of this opinion, I must respectfully dissent from the majority's refusal to address most of the issues raised in the applications for rehearing.