The Arkansas Supreme Court last week upheld a $48 million award to farmers in a lawsuit over tainted rice. Justices affirmed a circuit judge’s ruling that the 2003 Civil Justice Reform Act, which caps punitive damage awards in civil cases at $1 million, is unconstitutional.
In the unanimous decision, the high court acknowledged Amendment 26 to the Arkansas Constitution gives the General Assembly the authority to enact legislation to prescribe the amount of compensation to be paid employees for injury death, but ruled the Civil Justice Reform Act is unconstitutional under Amendment 26 when it “limits the amount of recovery outside the employment relationship.”
Lonoke County Circuit Judge Phillip Whiteaker declared the cap unconstitutional in his 2010 ruling awarding rice farmers $42 million in punitive damages and some $6 million in compensatory damages in a lawsuit farmers filed claiming their crops were tainted by genetically modified rice produced by Bayer CropScience.
Bayer CropScience’s lawyers petitioned the state Supreme Court to reverse Whiteaker’s ruling, arguing that the Civil Justice Reform Act, which limits punitive damage awards to $250,000 or three times the amount of compensatory damages, with a maximum award of $1 million, was constitutional.
Supporters of the cap or limits on punitive damages contended the law would make Arkansas friendlier to big business and encourage the growth of jobs.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
An attorney for 12 rice farmers maintained Whiteaker’s ruling was correct, arguing that compensatory damages are for recovery of injuries, while punitive damages are a penalty for conduct.
The Legislature passed the Civil Justice Reform Act after a jury awarded a $78 million judgment against a Mena nursing home in a resident’s death. The state Supreme Court reduced the award to $26 million in May 2003.
The cap that was placed on punitive damages violated the constitution. The Civil Justice Reform Act passed the Senate 34-1 and the House 71-28. Those lopsided votes do not reflect the “wisdom of tort reform.” High tech improvement
Dollarway High School has been awarded a $1.8 million school improvement grant from the U.S. Department of Education, with DHS Principal Arnold Robertson explaining that the funds will be used to support several school programs and activities.
The money must be used for school improvement, an area where Dollarway has been lacking, based on academic scores. The monies will be utilized to support the work of JBHM Consulting, which has been hired to aid with instruction, and to pay for Renaissance Learning, which is providing services to the school.
“We are working hard to improve the climate and culture for learning here at Dollarway High School,” the principal emphasized.
He said grant funds will also pay for the purchase of 300 small personal computers known as Neo Pads, which are used by teachers in conjunction with classroom Smart boards to allow students to answer questions on the devices that are then displayed on the Smart board.
The Department of Education said school improvement grants are awarded to state educational agencies and are then used to make competitive subgrants to local educational agencies that demonstrate the greatest need for the funds and the strongest commitment to use the funds to provide adequate resources to substantially raise the achievement levels of students in their lowest performing schools.
Raising the achievement levels at DHS is a worthy goal.