Court Opinion

ID: 9528771
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 03:43:46.564687+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:27:19.106473
License: Public Domain

STEWART, Justice
(Concurring and Dissenting):
I concur in the majority opinion except for its affirmance of the punitive damage award of $500,000. Although I agree that the evidence supports an award of punitive damages, there is in the evidence no rhyme or reason why it should be $500,000. The amount is wholly capricious and was nothing more or less than the product of passion and prejudice, just as it would have been if it had been fixed at $50,000 or $5,000,000. In my view, the award of punitive damages on an essentially standardless basis is inconsistent with the rule of law.
I recognize that the propriety of the jury instruction on punitive damages is not before the Court, but we have always exercised the power to reduce excessive punitive damages. In my view, the punitive damages should be reduced to one-third the amount of the compensatory damages, or $166,666, the likely amount of plaintiff’s attorney fees, a cost he ought not have to bear.
Howe, Justice, concurs in the concurring and dissenting opinion of Justice Stewart.