Document Type
Article
Media Type
Text
Abstract
Punitive damages have traditionally been a matter of state law, left to state courts and legislatures to review and regulate. But in the midst of the tort reform movement of the 1990s, the United States Supreme Court took sides in the policy debate, fashioning a novel substantive due process right limiting punitive damage awards and suppressing the power of juries to punish and deter egregious conduct. This article traces the evolution of the federalization of punitive damages based on questionable authority, criticizes the Supreme Court's intrusion into an area of state law, demonstrates how Supreme Court precedent has been misapplied by lower courts, and suggests a methodology for practitioners to withstand a constitutional due process challenge to the size of a punitive damage award.
First Page
537
Last Page
557
Publication Date
7-1-2008
Department
Other
ISSN
0734-1490
Language
eng
Publisher
Northern Illinois University Law Review
Recommended Citation
Perrecone, Frank A. and Fabiano, Lisa R.
(2008)
"The Federalization of Punitive Damages and the Effect on Illinois Law,"
Northern Illinois University Law Review: Vol. 28:
Iss.
3, Article 7.
Suggested Citation
Frank A. Perrecone and Lisa R. Fabiano, The Federalization of Punitive Damages and the Effect on Illinois Law, 28 N. Ill. U. L. Rev. 537 (2008).
