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The magnitude of punitive damages is not to deter others. It's to deter the responsible party. They are calibrated to be large enough to catch the attention of
by gnicholas 4y ago
The magnitude of punitive damages is not to deter others. It's to deter the responsible party. They are calibrated to be large enough to catch the attention of the party being held responsible.
If they were meant to deter others, they would be pegged to the size of other potential wrongdoers. But they are not. They are pegged to the size of the actual wrongdoer.
- lajamerr 4y agoAnd size is already calculated in with the idea of deterring others based on sentencing guidelines.
- gnicholas 4y agoSentencing guidelines are for criminal convictions. This was a civil case. There are also no punitive damages in criminal convictions. This area of law is a bit nuanced, and the details matter. In the US, criminal punishments are not ratcheted up based on your wealth. I believe there are some Nordic countries where this is done, with traffic violations at least.