Miscellaneous

Corzine vetoes unlimited noneconomic damages

By Walter Olson, Ted Frank, and David Nieporent

Who says we never praise Democrats? Via Scheuerman, New Jersey's Democratic governor Jon Corzine has vetoed a law that would have created unlimited noneconomic damages in wrongful death cases:

"[U]nlimited damages ? could have a significant impact on state and local budgets, since government entities are not infrequently named as defendants in wrongful death suits, and there are similar concerns as the State undertakes efforts to attract and grow businesses here."

"Unfortunately, I do not believe that this bill in its current form strikes a fair balance that would avoid using a strict monetary valuation of a person?s life while also addressing the adverse effect of allowing unlimited and unpredictable damages."

He urged the Legislature to consider alternatives "granting more flexibility for courts to reduce excessive non-pecuniary damage awards and defining non-pecuniary damages less expansively."

Full post as published by Overlawyered on January 16, 2008 (boomark / email).