Question

There are two basic types of damage awards available to a plaintiff who wins a tort claim: compensatory damages and punitive damages. Compensatory damages are intended to make the plaintiff whole, to pay them for the harm they have suffered. Punitive damages are all about punishing the defendant for their egrezious behavior. In the case of State Farm v. Campbell, the Court announced that, under normal circumstances, it would be rare for a punitive damage award to be acceptable that was more than how many times the compensatory damage award?

a- 1 times the compensatory damage award.
b- 145 times the compensatory damage award.
c- 9 times the compensatory damage award.
d- 3 times the compensatory damage award.

Answer 1

The Supreme Court in State Farm v. Campbell indicated that it is uncommon for punitive damages to be more than 9 times the compensatory damages. This ratio aims to prevent excessive punitive awards that could breach due process rights.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the case of State Farm v. Campbell, the Supreme Court announced that, under normal circumstances, punitive damage awards exceeding a certain multiple of the compensatory damages provided to the plaintiff would be considered excessive. The specific limit set by the Court was that it would be rare for punitive damages to exceed more than 9 times the compensatory damage award. Therefore, the correct answer to the student's question is c- 9 times the compensatory damage award.

Punitive damages are meant to serve as a punishment for particularly egregious or reckless behavior and are not simply to compensate the plaintiff. This decision by the Court aimed to set a standard that would prevent punitive damages from becoming disproportionately large in comparison to the actual harm suffered, which in some cases could violate due process.