White v. Ford Motor Co.: Using Federalism to Rein in Punitive Damages Awards

It is often the case that juries are only too eager to award punitive damages that are excessively large when compared to the potential damages or actual damage done. In 1996, the Supreme Court made an effort in <i>BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore</i>, 517 U.S. 559, to curb the effects of this behavior by imposing territorial limitations on the conduct that juries may consider when calculating the size of punitive damages. Specifically, the Court held that states could not consider out-of-state conduct in punitive damages calculations when such conduct was legal in other states. The <i>BMW</i> decision was based on principles of state sovereignty, comity, federalism, and the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment.

21 minute readOctober 07, 2003 at 12:13 AM
By
Gregg A. Farley
Ria C. Momblanco
White v. Ford Motor Co.: Using Federalism to Rein in Punitive Damages Awards

It is often the case that juries are only too eager to award punitive damages that are excessively large when compared to the potential damages or actual damage done. In

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