Big money was a big part of the argument in a Cobb County courtroom Thursday, where the lawyers for a young woman awarded $5 million in damages for claims claims arising from a sexual assault at a behavioral health clinic were not only seeking more than $2 million in attorney fees—they also asked the court to grant $50 million in punitive damages the jury awarded, Georgia statutory cap on punitive notwithstanding. 

The decision placed before State Court Judge Maria Golick is weighty: whether to declare unconstitutional Georgia's $250,000 limit on punitive damages, which applies to all tort claims except those involving products liability or where there is a finding of intentional harm or an impaired defendant.