Left Column/point: Split-recovery Statutes Do More Harm Than Good
| Jurisdiction | Colorado,United States |
| Citation | Vol. 38 No. 8 Pg. 105 |
| Pages | 105 |
| Publication year | 2009 |
2009, August, Pg. 105. Left Column/Point: Split-Recovery Statutes Do More Harm Than Good
August 2009
Vol. 38, No. 8 [Page 105]
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About the Author
Lee Katherine Goldstein is Of Counsel with Fairfield and Woods P.C., where she focuses on commercial and civil litigation (303) 894-4407, lgoldstein@fwlaw.com.
In today's society, punitive damages provide a vital means of punishing and deterring wrongful conduct. In our world of lax regulation and corporation-friendly legislation, punitive damages provide a mechanism for jurors to punish defendants that have crossed the line by engaging in conduct that society will not tolerate when the regulators and criminal justice system fail to do so. Punitive damages:
elevate the jury as a responsible instrument of government, discourage[] private reprisals, restrain[] the strong, influential, and unscrupulous, vindicate[] the right of the weak, and encourage[] recourse to and confidence in the courts of law by those wronged or oppressed by acts or practices not cognizable in or not sufficiently punished by the criminal law.(fn1)
Punitive damages have a long and well established history in American jurisprudence. Punitive damages were recognized in common law as early as 1763, and the practice of awarding punitive damages was well recognized when the U.S. Constitution was adopted.(fn2) Punitive damages are intended to be punishment of the wrongdoer and an example to others to deter similar conduct.(fn3) As explained by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, punitive damages serve an important and unique role in our society:
Suffice it to say that whatever shortcomings the award of punitive damages may have, it must be remembered that it has the effect of bringing to punishment types of conduct that though...
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