TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1996//
TI  - Plaintiff Injury and Defendant Reprehensibility: Implications for Compensatory and Punitive Damage Awards
JO  - Law and human behavior
A1  - Cather, Corinne
A1  - Greene, Edith
A1  - Durham, Robert
SP  - 189
EP  - 205
VL  - 20
IS  - 2
N2  - A criticism of the civil jury is that jurors' decisions about damages are capricious and arbitrary. In particular, critics point to the skyrocketing nature of punitive damage assessments as evidence of a system run amok. The purpose of this study was to examine the factors that influence jurors' decisions about compensatory and punitive awards. We assess whether, as the law intends, jurors' decisions about compensation are influenced by the severity of the plaintiff's injury but not by the reprehensibility of the defendant's conduct, and whether assessments of punitive damages are related to the defendant's conduct but not to the plaintiff's injury. Across three cases, mock jurors generally utilized relevant information and ignored irrelevant factors in their decisions about damages. Results are discussed in terms of the extent to which juror decision making comports with legal doctrine.<p /> 
LA  - 
SN  - 0147-7307
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -