Miscellaneous

Frank Talk About Punitive Damages

By Anne Skove, Esq.

In today's WSJ, Ted Frank (whom we seem to remember as the guy who posted flyers all around Hyde Park that one time...we still wonder whether it worked!) paraphrases Walter Olson as saying about those nasty outliers "that's like saying that Californians don't have to worry about earthquakes because the median quake is barely noticeable."

No, it's like looking at all the criminal sentences handed down in a given state and fretting because a few are death penalties.

The average criminal sentence amounts to about 5 years in prison. Some defendants do really bad things; in states where it is allowed, they get death.

The average punitive damage award is pretty small. Some defendants do really egregious things; where the law allows, they may have to pay billions.

See The Era of Big Punitive Damage Awards Is Not Over, Ted Frank, Wall Street Journal (July 10, 2008). And, for the love of God, please see the Court Statistics Project.

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on July 10, 2008 (boomark / email).