Roger Williams University Law Review Volume 17 | Issue 3 Article 3 Summer 2012 Law, Economics, and Politics: The nU told History of the Due Process Limitation on Punitive Damages Daniel W. Morton-Bentley Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.rwu.edu/rwu_LR Recommended Citation Morton-Bentley, Daniel W. (2012) "Law, Economics, and Politics: The nU told History of the Due Process Limitation on Punitive Damages ," Roger Williams University Law Review: Vol. 17: Iss. 3, Article 3. Available at: http://docs.rwu.edu/rwu_LR/vol17/iss3/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Roger Williams University Law Review by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Law, Economics, and Politics: The Untold History of the Due Process Limitation on Punitive Damages Daniel W. Morton-Bentley* I. INTRODUCTION In the 1991 case of Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. Haslip, the Supreme Court held that punitive damage awards may be constrained by the Due Process clause.' This decision spawned several sequels, all of which have been characterized as bad constitutional interpretation. 2 Commentators have critiqued these opinions' tenuous connection to the text of the Constitution and their disregard for federalism. 3 Furthermore, prior to Haslip, * LL.M, Suffolk University Law School; J.D., Roger Williams University School of Law. Thank you to Professors Jared Goldstein and Carl Bogus for their editing suggestions and advice. Thanks also to Thelma Dzialo for her research assistance and to Robert Morton-Ranney for sharing his insights into twentieth-century culture.