taking bets....do they get a pass from this Supreme Court??? Eighteen Years Later???

The high court will determine if the $2.5 billion in punitive damages owed for the 1989 Alaska oil spill is excessive.

The justices said they would consider whether the company should have to pay any punitive damages at all. If the court decides some money is due, Exxon is arguing that $2.5 billion is excessive under laws governing shipping and prior high court decisions limiting punitive damages.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/10/29/news/companies/bc.scotus.exxonvaldez.ap/index.htm?cnn=yes

...I hate to be so cynical but is there anyway that the supremes WON'T reduce this fine?

I don't see it.

She probably will.

and not needed to be goaded into doing it. just kidding but I am starting to realize we really don't have very good leadership right now with either Harry or Nancy, now do we

And they will give it back to lower courts, saying they have to start over again. All the plaintiffs will be dead before this ever gets through the courts.

OWED???????

:wtf:

Am I to understand they haven't paid any of that fine yet?

Holy shit.

They cleared 39.5 BILLION in profit in 2006.

Thats $4,509,132 an HOUR, every hour, every day.

this subprime court will probably allow exxon-mobil to get money back for attorney fees.

Shit they made over 8 billion in profit the first quarter of this year...

And they probably had a contigency fund for that already on the books...

so if they get a pass from the SC...

Well, where is the accountability that conservatives rail about when a kid lights up a crack pipe...

Hanging judgea Thomas and Tony the Scar will find that it is not in the constitution to fine a corporation, strict constructionalists that they are...

Damn these fuckers will follow the money...

That is, grant the petition for a writ of certiorari, vacate the underlying judgment, and remand to the Ninth Circuit for further consideration of the punitive damages verdict in light of their decisions in State Farm v. Campbell or Williams v. Philip Morris.

However, this is a punitive damages verdict in a federal court, not a state court, so the holdings of State Farm and Williams may not apply (and probably shouldn't apply). I'm not very well-versed on the state of the law for punitive damages in federal court, but the Supreme Court as currently constituted, doesn't seem terribly averse to upholding the rights of corporations, paper ballots and other inanimate objects over the rights of the citizens, so look for Exxon to get a favorable ruling.

However, if the Earth spins off its axis, the grass ceases to grow or the wind refuses to blow, and the verdict is affirmed, Exxon will be liable not only for the original $2.5 billion award, but for interest from 1989. The federal rate isn't terribly high (for example, the state rate in Oregon is 9% per annum), but it should still nearly double the award, which would be good news for the surviving plaintiffs.