WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court was supposed to hear arguments Tuesday about massive punitive damages against a tobacco company, but it instead focused on a detail.
The case involves an Oregon jury that awarded a woman $79.5 million in punitive damages for the lung cancer death of her husband, Jesse Williams, a decades-long cigarette smoker.
At issue was whether Philip Morris USA or any company can be punished harshly for damaging a broad range of people who were not parties to the case. In other words, was the company's allegedly fraudulent conduct -- hiding the danger of tobacco from the public -- bad enough for the jury to ignore Supreme Court precedent limiting punitive damages?
But Tuesday's argument quickly centered on whether the trial judge should have given the jury an instruction requested by the tobacco company, SCOTUSblog.com reported.
The report said the justices appeared to believe a company could not be punished constitutionally for harming people not involved in the lawsuit, but the case could be sent back to the Oregon Supreme Court for clarification.
The case is No. 05-1256, Philip Morris USA vs. Williams.
