Punitive Damages: Supreme Court gets closer to appropriate calculation.

Implications: Will this ruling be a guide or an edict in calculating punitive damages in other cases?When an award is over a 100 million is a one to ratio for compensatory & punitive appropriate? 

Analysis: The Supreme Court has long danced around the issue of setting a definitive rule on calculating punitive damages.  Punitive damages have been something always in place to essentially deter future conduct & to punish for past actions. http://www.atra.org/show/7343 Punitive damages were never meant to put a company out of business, cripple its operations or a way for jurors to simply send a message of America's intolerance for blatantly disregarding your obligations.  Justice Souter's extensive 42 page opinion outlines a clear message from the Supreme Court to be applied in Maritime cases, but leaves open interpretation that a one to one ratio may on a cases by case basis have merit in other cases.  As some may recall, the initial verdict of 5 billion punitive was over turned to 2.5 billion, which is now 500 million.  The possible ultimate payout has gone from $75,000 per person to $15,000.  It has been so long since the initial case filing & tragic events of March, 1989, that 20% of those affected have died. The actual calculation of punitive damages has long been debated and many feel it should not be a one size fits all, but like with any proceeding you should have some semblance of consistency when comparing apples to apples & oranges to oranges.  This one to one ratio may not be the best application, or even the fairest, but it certainly seems somewhat more realistic & involves a more scientific measurement than 5 billion! Mass tort litigants may be in for a big surprise when this wave of the hand filters thru the judicial system.