Smoking Trial Monster

The horrendously punitive rulings in America are nuts, which is nothing new. This was just put to a test again, against a billion dollar company, which most Americans rather dislike. R.J. Reynolds, the second largest tobacco vendor in the country, is supposed to pay the heir of a lung cancer victim the incredible amount of $23.6 billion.

Regardless of any aversion to the cigarette industry, which systematically lied to people for a long time about the risks of smoking, the amount is just absurd. Reynolds earns $8.2 billion in revenues every year. The fat earnings are long gone, since fewer and fewer Americans are smoking.

The compensation amount also illustrates the necessity of reforming the American judicial system. Laypeople have way too much influence on civil cases; they not only decide guilt or innocence, but also the damages. This leads to arbitrary amounts.

Such decisions only rarely prevail. Reynolds has already announced that it is taking legal action against the verdict. It can be expected that the compensation will shrink to a fraction of the current amount, and billions will turn into millions — a few millions. The trial is going drag on. And in fact, it will turn a justified damage claim into a monster trial lasting for decades.