Court Opinion

ID: 9434072
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:42:11.086324+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:46.164204
License: Public Domain

Justice Scalia,
concurring in the judgment.
I was (and remain) of the view that excessive punitive damages do not violate the Due Process Clause; but the Court held otherwise. See BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore, 517 U. S. 559 (1996); id., at 598 (Scalia, J., dissenting). And I was of the view that we should review for abuse *444of discretion (rather than de novo) fact-bound constitutional issues which, in their resistance to meaningful generalization, resemble the question of exeessiveness of punitive damages — namely, whether there exists reasonable suspicion for a stop and probable cause for a search; but the Court held otherwise. See Ornelas v. United States, 517 U.S. 690 (1996); id., at 700 (Scalia, J., dissenting). Finally, in a case in which I joined a dissent that made it unnecessary for me to reach the issue, the Court categorically stated that "the question whether a fine is constitutionally excessive calls for ... de novo review.” United States v. Bajakajian, 524 U. S. 321, 336-387, n. 10 (1998); see id., at 344 (KENNEDY, J., joined by Rehnquist, C. J., and O’Connor and Scalia, JJ., dissenting). Given these precedents, I agree that de novo review of the question of excessive punitive damages best accords with our jurisprudence. Accordingly, I concur in the judgment of the Court.