Fashioning Procedural and Substantive Due Process Arguments in Toxic and Other Tort Actions Involving Punitive Damages after Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. Haslip

49 Pages Posted: 25 Apr 2009

See all articles by James R. May

James R. May

Washburn University - Washburn University School of Law; Widener University Delaware Law School; Haub School of Law at Pace University

Date Written: January 1, 1992

Abstract

This article predicted that one of the most important issues in future tort litigation would be the role of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in constraining the imposition of punitive damages by state court juries. In Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. Haslip, the Supreme Court found that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment limits, but does not prohibit, the imposition of punitive damages. The article argues that procedural due process would be protected by giving the jury adequate guidance on the nature and purpose of punitive damages, by using post-verdict judicial review to assure that the award is reasonable, and by applying the proper standard of proof. it also reasoned that substantive due process would be served by rendering an award of punitive damages neither excessive in degree (as compared with the award for compensatory damages) nor in frequency (as when a single course of tortious conduct results in the multiple imposition of punitive damages).

Keywords: torts, due process, punitive damages, damages

JEL Classification: K13

Suggested Citation

May, James, Fashioning Procedural and Substantive Due Process Arguments in Toxic and Other Tort Actions Involving Punitive Damages after Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. Haslip (January 1, 1992). Environmental Law, Vol. 22, 1992, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1394482

James May (Contact Author)

Washburn University - Washburn University School of Law ( email )

1700 SW College Ave.
Topeka, KS 66621
United States

Widener University Delaware Law School ( email )

4601 Concord Pike
Wilmington, DE 19803-0406
United States

Haub School of Law at Pace University ( email )

78 N. Broadway
White Plains, NY 10603
United States

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
297
Abstract Views
1,570
Rank
211,698
PlumX Metrics