Set Limit to Punitive Damages : US Supreme Court Case Development

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Punitive damages are awarded when the defendant's conduct is found to be intentional or willful or wanton or malicious. The court may permit an award of punitive damages in addition to compensatory damages. It is intended to punish the defendant and to discourage the conduct which the defendant engaged in.
There are debates in reform of Tort Law in the United States which includes setting a national standard for the punitive damages awards. In some cases, the punitive damages award has been more than 100 times the compensatory damages. Although some States have individually set their own standards, such as type of cases that punitive damages can be awarded and jury instructions, the debate has not stop. Thus, the US Supreme Court stepped in to the debate and has heard punitive damages cases in the recent history trying to give guidance.
This note will look in to the development of the recent cases, starting from Browning-Ferris to State Farm. It will briefly show how the holds in the cases has changed and show that the Supreme Court's single-digit ratio of compensatory damages and punitive damages, in State Farm, does not provide legal binding to the States.
Korea has been analyzing whether to adopt punitive damages based on United States. One of the most critical problems is whether to regulate the amount of punitive damages. The US Supreme Court's cases shows how hard it is to set a strict ratio to punitive damages while not loosing the punitive damages jurisprudence and its effect.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 목차
• Ⅰ. Introduction
• Ⅱ. Cases before State Farm
• Ⅲ. State Farm
• Ⅳ. Conclusion