Punitive damages exist in every state, and exist because without them corporations are able to simply budget in the cost of breaking the law. That's why the McD

Punitive damages exist in every state, and exist because without them corporations are able to simply budget in the cost of breaking the law. That's why the McDonalds hot coffee incident was so large (they were breaking the law, the woman originally only sued for the few thousand in health insurance copays, the bulk of the fine was because McDs had had the same law suits with different people multiple times but continued to break the law)