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Article
After Philip Morris v. Williams: What is Left of the "Single-Digit" Ratio?
Charleston Law Review
  • Anthony J. Sebok, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Publication Date
1-1-2008
Abstract

This short essay was written for a symposium on The Future of Punitive Damages held at the Charleston School of Law in 2007. I argue that the ratio rule (that punitive damages that exceed a single digit ratio presumptively violate the Due Process Clause), introduced by the Supreme Court in Campbell, is unlikely to survive. I argue this for three reasons. First, many lower courts have found ways to conceal punitive damages awards that impose, in reality, ratios in the double-digits. Second, the refusal of the Court to reverse the plaintiffs punitive damages award in Williams under the ratio rule - given that it was 98 times the compensatory award - suggests that there are members of the Court who may not want to stand behind the rule. Third, the rule represents a mistaken critique of punitive damages.

Publisher
Charleston School of Law
Keywords
  • damages,
  • symposium,
  • punishment
Disciplines
Citation Information
Anthony J. Sebok. "After Philip Morris v. Williams: What is Left of the "Single-Digit" Ratio?" Charleston Law Review Vol. 2 (2008) p. 287
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/anthony-sebok/1/