The Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy is currently engaged in a study of the nature and extent of punitive damage awards in civil lawsuits in the California courts. The complete findings of this study will not be available until summer; this preliminary report offers our early findings for the benefit of the fast-moving public debate on the issue.
As Congress and state legislatures consider proposals to change or limit the purview of punitive damages, a fresh look at the facts is warranted. The chief question of fact in the public debate has been to ascertain what the trend is: how many punitive damage awards are being given by juries, and have the number of awards and the average amount of awards been growing rapidly or not? Several studies have yielded different findings, and there is a clash of views on how to interpret the trends.
This study offers new data on the frequency and the effects of punitive damages, based on a detailed review of more than 1000 lawsuits filed and concluded in San Francisco County Superior Court.
