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High Court Sets Standard for How Punitive-Damage Awards Should Be Handled.

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, April, 2003

By James P. Miller, Chicago Tribune Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Apr. 8--In a decision that promises to benefit major corporations, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday overturned as excessive a $145 million punitive-damage award and established the clearest standard yet for how judges and juries should handle such controversial penalties.

In a 6-3 ruling, the justices said that even though State Farm Insurance Cos. had mishandled a customer's claim, the large punitive damage award was "neither reasonable nor proportionate" to the $1 million in actual damages that the jury found State Farm had caused.

And for the first time, the high court spelled out what it considers a maximum ratio between harm done to a plaintiff and the...

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