Some “legal” jargon used by attorneys may be confusing. From time to time, we will offer some “in plain English” definitions to assist in understanding the legalese utilized by lawyers.
Amicus Curuiae: Means literally friend of the court. A person, not a party to an action, who has a strong interest or views on a matter before the court, may ask the court for permission to file a brief in support of one of the parties but actually suggesting another rationale consistent with his own views.
Inter alia: Means among other things. A term used in pleadings, especially when reciting a statue, where the whole statute is not set forth in the pleading.
Mala in se: Acts which are morally wrong in and of themselves; offenses against law and decency, i.e. murder.
In the News -- Casino Refuses to pay jackpot.
The plaintiff, Griggs, was in a casino playing a progressive slot machine when he hit the jackpot. The jackpot was approximately $1.36 million. A representative of the party responsible for paying the jackpot simply walked over to the winning machine, and turned the machine off. He then told Mr. Griggs the machine had simply malfunctioned and refused to pay the jackpot.
To recover, the plaintiff, Griggs, sued the casino alleging breach of contract. The jury awarded him the jackpot amount. An appeal is pending.
JACKPOT JURY AWARDS
On December 11, 2002, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the case of State Farm v. Campbell, No. 01-1289. At issue is whether fundamental due process (14th Amendment Due Process Clause “No State shall . . . deprive any person of life liberty, or property, without due process of law.” U.S. Const. amend. XIV §1) was violated when a jury awarded the Campbells $145 million in punitive damages. The U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to determine when a large punitive damage award becomes so “grossly excessive” as to violate the safeguards of the U.S. Constitution.
The Utah Supreme Court upheld the $145 million saying “a larger than normal punitive damage award is necessary to attract the attention of State Farm officials and deter the company from other bad conduct.” Some of the U.S. Supreme Court justices agreed. “You need an awfully big award to get the attention of an awfully big company,” said Justice Anthony Kennedy, while Justice David Souter said State Farm is a company with “surpluses in the billions.”
However, Justice Stephen Breyer expressed concern that $56 million of the award would go to the attorneys who represented the Campbells and crash victims. He also expressed concern that punishing a national company should be left to a jury in Logan, Utah, “[i]t is disturbing in terms of the picture of law to have 12 people picked at random to assess an enormous fine and say this company is evil.”
As Paul Kamenar, Senior Executive Counsel at the Washington Legal Foundation, one of the amici (friends of the court), put it: "If this case is not overturned, it will set a dangerous precedent. You don't need that kind of award to send that kind of message to the company. There needs to be some proportionality."
Justice Antonin Scalia directed the most biting comment to State Farm’s attorney, “[i]f no amount of money will suffice, maybe we’ll have to send them to jail.”
