Punitive damages, also known as exemplary damages and are meant to punish the defendant for outrageous or particularly egregious behavior. The monetary awards for punitive damages are over and above that of compensatory damages.
Punitive damages are a way of punishing the defendant in a civil lawsuit and are based on the theory that the interests of society and the individual harmed can be met by imposing additional damages on the defendant. Since the 1970s, punitive damages have been criticized by U.S. business and insurance groups which allege that exorbitant punitive damage awards have driven up the cost of doing business. Punitive damages have been characterized as "quasi-criminal" because they stand halfway between the criminal and Civil Law. Though they are awarded to a plaintiff in a private civil lawsuit, they are noncompensatory and in the nature of a criminal fine.
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