Supreme Court Ruling on Punitive Damages
The Supreme Court issued two 5-4 decisions this Tuesday. They indicate that new Chief Justice John Roberts may not be as adept at compromise as many had thought. When Roberts was nominated for the court, many praised his diplomatic and well-reasoned answers at his Congressional confirmation hearing. The cigarette damages case is particularly interesting, and creates a difficult and contradictory due process analysis. The Ruling in Phillip Morris USA v. Williams will hardly be praised by subsequent scholars for its clarity. It sets up a confusing analysis for evaluating punitive damages. The original lawsuit was brought by a smoker's widow. Her husband, Jesse Williams smoked 2 packs a day for 45 years. He died of lung cancer 9 years ago. In Oregon State court, a jury awarded the widow a record $79.5 million in punitive damages. The Oregon State Supreme Court upheld the verdict. Williams argued the cigarette industry committed "massive market-directed fraud" which m...