Should courts put limits on punitive damages awarded?
Courts don’t have that authority really. Punitive damages are allowed by statute and the legislature makes or changes those laws. However, a court can find that punitive damages are not warranted, meaning that the actions were not so oppressive or malicious that the defendant needs to be “punished”. A court can also reduce a jury’s award of damages if it is not consistent with the evidential findings or if it exceeds the state’s laws for measuring these damages. But again, the legislature sets the guidelines.
