[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 592 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 592

 To amend title 46, United States Code, to remove the cap on punitive 
 damages established by the Supreme Court in Exxon Shipping Company v. 
                                 Baker.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 16, 2011

 Mr. Whitehouse (for himself, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Schumer, 
Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Franken, Mr. Leahy, and Mrs. Shaheen) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
           Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 46, United States Code, to remove the cap on punitive 
 damages established by the Supreme Court in Exxon Shipping Company v. 
                                 Baker.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Maritime Liability Fairness Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) in the case styled Exxon Shipping Co. v Baker, 128 S. 
        Ct. 2605 (2008), the Supreme Court held that when reviewing 
        jury awards for punitive damages under maritime law, courts 
        should limit the punitive-to-compensatory damages ratio to 1:1;
            (2) in that decision, the Court conceded that discretion to 
        award punitive damages has not mass-produced runaway awards, 
        and although some studies show the dollar amounts of punitive-
        damages awards growing over time, even in real terms, by most 
        accounts the median ratio of punitive-to-compensatory awards 
        has remained less than 1:1;
            (3) district and appellate courts have the authority under 
        common law to reduce excessively large punitive awards; and
            (4) punitive damages serve to punish reckless or worse 
        behavior, deter future similar offenses, and compensate for 
        intangible injuries that would not otherwise be available to 1 
        or more plaintiffs.

SEC. 3. REMOVAL OF CAP FOR MARITIME PUNITIVE DAMAGES.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 301 of title 46, United States Code, is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 30107. Punitive damages in maritime law
    ``Except as otherwise provided in this title, in a civil action for 
damages arising out of a maritime tort, punitive damages may be 
assessed without regard to the amount of compensatory damages assessed 
in the action.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The analysis for chapter 301 of title 
46, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

``Sec. 30107. Punitive damages in maritime law.''.
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