How A Lawsuit Over Hot Coffee Helped Erode the 7th Amendment

Re:How A Lawsuit Over Hot Coffee Helped Erode the 7th Amendment by sumedh on Sunday May 11, 2014 @12:37PM (#7729090)

> punitive damages of the profits of two day's sales of coffee (which the judge reduced)

Why did the judge reduce the penalty and what is the point of the jury giving a penalty fee which the judge can reduce later?

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Re:How A Lawsuit Over Hot Coffee Helped Erode the 7th Amendment by chimeracoder on Sunday May 11, 2014 @01:38PM (#7729270)

I'm not sure of the judge's reasoning here, but in some cases there is a statutory limit on the damages that can be awarded[0]. So a jury can award any amount that they see fit, but that will be reduced to the maximum amount permissible by law.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7727175

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