TOBACCO RULING.(News)(Brief article)

Business Insurance, February, 2007

Main points in the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Philip Morris USA vs. Mayola Williams: At issue 1. Whether in reviewing a jury's award of punitive damages, an appellate court's conclusion that a defendant's conduct was highly reprehensible and analogous to a crime can "override'' the constitutional requirement that punitive damages be reasonably related to the plaintiffs harm.

2. Whether due process permits a jury to punish a defendant for the effects of its conduct on nonparties to a lawsuit. The decision The Supreme Court held that a jury can take into account actual harm to nonparties when determining the reprehensibility of a defendant's conduct, but it cannot go further and use punitive damages to punish the defendant for harm caused to...

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