Judge slashes damages awarded in deadly Charlotteville rally

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Judge slashes damages awarded in deadly Charlotteville rally

By DENISE LAVOIE
January 4, 2023

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal judge has slashed millions of dollars from the damages a jury ordered white nationalist leaders and organizations to pay for their role in the violence that erupted during the deadly “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville in 2017.

U.S. District Judge Norman Moon ordered the $24 million in punitive damages reduced to $350,000, the cap imposed under a Virginia law. Moon upheld the $2 million in compensatory damages awarded by the jury in November 2021.

The reduction in damages was expected because of the 1988 state law, which says that juries should not be told about the cap, but if a jury awards more than $350,000 in punitive damages, the judge must reduce the award.

Moon’s ruling also affirmed the jury’s central finding that the defendants — including some of the most well-known white nationalists in the country — were liable under a state conspiracy law for planning and participating in the rally.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/racism-automotive-accidents-juries-virginia-charlottesville-38b94851827793b656a30a219c386177

[TexasTowelie]

1. The amount of punitive damages should correspond to the ability of the defendants to pay them.

$350,000 in punitive damages is significant to a small organization, but it likely isn't enough to deter the behavior of larger organizations.

The caps on non-economic and punitive damages also need to be regularly adjusted for inflation. Since this is a 35 year old law, an equivalent cap in today's terms would be around $750,000 instead.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. So now the cap is public knowledge for all potential jurors, so what kind of law is that?

It only works once?

[Zeitghost]

3. It's always been public knowledge

It's just something very few would have an interest in or remember. I'm sure this isn't the first case where this has happened in the decades since it was passed.

I do like concept of not disclosing the cap in court, I think too many juries would just go with the max and not reason it out properly.