Mississippi Damages Cap Before High Court

Gov. Haley Barbour has asked the Mississippi Supreme Court to uphold a state law that limits non-economic damages in civil cases.

Barbour contends that Mississippi’s tort reform measure, passed in 2004, has lowered premiums for doctors and helped attract new business to the state.

The Supreme Court has been asked by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans about the constitutionality of the law before it rules in a case involving a traffic accident.

The law on non-economic caps puts a $1 million limit on what juries can award someone for such things as pain and suffering. The limits were adopted by Mississippi lawmakers after years of contentious wrangling over tort reform.

“The non-economic damage caps and other tort reform measures leveled the playing field for all litigants, ensured fair and predictable results, averted a health care crisis and attracted new businesses to the state,” Barbour told the court.

Barbour said he was concerned that repeal of the non-economic damage caps “would destroy the positive progress made in recent years, crush current economic development and drive away desperately needed jobs during one of the most uncertain economic times in the nation’s history.”

In the case, Lisa Learmonth sued Sears and Roebuck Co. after she was involved in a collision with one of the company’s vans. A U.S. District Court in Mississippi jury found Sears liable for her injuries and awarded Learmonth $4 million in damages, of which the parties agreed $2.2 million were for non-economic damages. The judge reduced the non-economic damages to $1 million.

In its appeal, Sears asked the 5th Circuit for a new trial, which the appeals court panel denied. Learmonth appealed the judge’s decision to reduce the non-economic damages, an issue that the 5th Circuit panel referred to the Mississippi court.

Topics Mississippi