U.S. Supreme Court Decision Vacates $79.5 Million Punitive Damages Award.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of -- The U.S. Supreme Court today reversed and vacated a $79.5 million punitive damage award returned by a 1999 Oregon jury in a case known as Williams-Branch. The case will now return to the Oregon courts for proceedings consistent with Philip Morris USA's due process rights. In a 5 - 4 decision authored by Justice Stephen Breyer Stephen Gerald Breyer (born August 15, 1938) is an American attorney, political figure, and jurist. Since 1994, he has served as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. , the Court held that it is unconstitutional for a jury to award punitive damages Monetary compensation awarded to an injured party that goes beyond that which is necessary to compensate the individual for losses and that is intended to punish the wrongdoer. to punish for harm to individuals who are not before the Court - as it was invited to do so in the Williams trial - and that such an award would amount to a taking of property without due process. "We believe that this decision will provide Philip Morris USA Philip Morris USA is the United States tobacco division of Altria Group, Inc. General information On January 27, 2003, Philip Morris Companies Inc. changed its name to Altria Group, Inc. Even under this new name, Altria continues to own 100% of Philip Morris USA. with an opportunity to fully and fairly defend itself in this and other cases," said William S. Ohlemeyer, Philip Morris USA vice president and associate general counsel. "There are clearly constitutional limits to the imposition of punitive damages, and today's decision makes clear that state courts must properly instruct juries on those limits to ensure that they are punishing only for harm caused to the plaintiff, and not to strangers," said Ohlemeyer. The Williams-Branch case was the first individual smoking and health case tried in Oregon. The plaintiff, the wife of a deceased smoker, sued Philip Morris USA for fraud and negligence. In 1999, the jury returned a verdict against Philip Morris USA on the fraud claim and awarded the plaintiff $821,000 in compensatory damages A sum of money awarded in a civil action by a court to indemnify a person for the particular loss, detriment, or injury suffered as a result of the unlawful conduct of another. and $79.5 million in punitive damages, which the trial court later reduced to $32 million. The appellate court A court having jurisdiction to review decisions of a trial-level or other lower court. An unsuccessful party in a lawsuit must file an appeal with an appellate court in order to have the decision reviewed. later reinstated the $79.5 million punitive damages award. Following its landmark State Farm decision in 2003, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the punitive damages award in Williams-Branch and remanded the case with instructions that the Oregon courts should reconsider the appeal. In response, the intermediate Court of Appeal, and then the Oregon Supreme Court The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. , once again reinstated the original $79.5 million jury award, leading to this second appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. |
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