The Supreme Court case of Exxon Shipping, et al. v. Baker, 128 S. Ct. 2605, (2008) concerned the grounding of the Exxon Valdez super tanker in Alaska in 1989, and the oil spill damages resulting from that event.
The Supreme Court reduced the punitive damages awarded by the jury based upon the application of federal maritime law, utilizing a one-to-one ratio to actual damages. Although the case involved maritime law, the author asserts that the Supreme Court intended the decision to be applicable to other federal court suits where punitive damages are awarded, including cases brought pursuant to Title 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. The author contends that examining the net worth of the defendant or defendants is required in Section 1983 cases before punitive damages can be awarded, and the procedure suggested by Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. in his partial dissent in Keenan v. The City of Philadelphia, 983 F.2d 459 (3rd Cir. 1992) is the proper procedure for doing so.
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