Jump to full article: Bloomberg News, 2008-06-25
Author: Greg Stohr
Intro: A divided U.S. Supreme Court slashed the $2.5 billion punitive damage award against Exxon Mobil Corp. for the 1989 Valdez oil spill to $507.5 million, ending a 19-year legal saga over the worst such disaster in U.S. history.
The justices, voting 5-3, said the original award, which would have been increased by more than $2 billion with accrued interest, was excessive under federal maritime law. The $507.5 million figure is equal to the economic damages that a trial judge determined were suffered by thousands of Alaskan commercial fishermen involved in the case.
Writing for the court, Justice David Souter pointed to studies showing that punitive damages awarded in maritime cases were generally less than the amount of compensatory damages.
``A 1:1 ratio, which is above the median award, is a fair upper limit in such maritime cases,'' Souter wrote. . . .
The court divided largely along ideological lines. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Anthony Kennedy joined Souter in the majority. Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer dissented.
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