Professor Steve P. Calandrillo of the University of Washington School of Law thinks so. He has published an article in the George Washington Law Review entitled “Penalizing Punitive Damages: Why the Supreme Court Needs a Lesson in Law and Economics.”
Professor Calandrillo thinks that punitive damages should not be reserved for cases in which a defendant acted with malice or otherwise engaged in egregious misconduct. He contends punitive damages should be imposed whenever a defendant has escaped liability, or is likely to escape liability, for causing harm to others. He also thinks punitive damages should take into account harm to nonparties, and should play a quasi-compensatory rule, making plaintiffs whole for losses that are not otherwise compensated through the tort system, such as attorney’s fees or harms that are legally non-compensable.
Some might ask whether Professor Calandrillo needs a lesson in the Due Process Clause. Read the article and judge for yourselves.
