Eisenberg et al on Juries, Judges, and Punitive Damages
Theodore Eisenberg , Michael Heise , Martin T. Wells , Paula Hannaford-Agor , Neil LaFountain , G. Thomas Munsterman and Brian Ostrom (Cornell Law School , Cornell Law School , Cornell University , National Center for State Courts , National Center for State Courts – General , National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and National Center for State Courts) have posted Juries, Judges, and Punitive Damages: Empirical Analyses using the Civil Justice Survey of State Courts 1992, 1996, and 2001 Data on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
- We analyze thousands of trials from a substantial fraction of the nation’s most populous counties. Evidence across ten years and three major datasets suggests that: (1) juries and judges award punitive damages in approximately the same ratio to compensatory damages, (2) the level of punitive damages awards has not increased, and (3) juries’ and judges’ tendencies to award punitive damages differ in bodily injury and no-bodily-injury cases. Jury trials are associated with a greater rate of punitive damages awards in financial injury cases. Judge trials are associated with a greater rate of punitive damages awards in bodily injury cases.