Cap on Noneconomic Damages Struck Down by Georgia Supreme Court

In a victory for Georgia consumers, caps on noneconomic damages passed as part of the state’s sweeping Republican-led 2005 “tort reform” laws, was declared unconstitutional in a unanimous decision by the Georgia Supreme Court. The justices agreed the limits on jury awards in medical malpractice cases violated the constitutional right to trial by jury. The legislation had capped noneconomic damages such as compensation for an injured victim’s pain and suffering at $350,000.

The ruling upheld a $1.2 million jury verdict in favor of a woman who suffered permanent disfigurement of her face including gaping wounds which required prolonged, excruciating treatments to keep them from becoming infected as the result of a botched plastic surgery. The judges’ decision noted that negligence claims against health care providers had been a remedy available to Georgia citizens since 1798. The legislature’s tort reforms “clearly nullifies the jury’s findings of fact regarding damages and thereby undermines the jury’s basic function” Chief Justice Carol Hunstein wrote for the court. “The very existence of the caps, in any amount, is violative of the right to trial by jury.” she added.

In the past few years almost half of the states have enacted caps on damage awards in medical malpractice cases following intense lobbying from business, health care and insurance interests. Recently, the Illinois Supreme Court struck down a similar legislative cap against doctors and hospitals. For too long victims of medical negligence have been relegated to unfair compensation for injuries they suffered if they were unlucky enough to live in a state that had succumbed to the so-called “tort reform” fervor.

The jury system is what separates America from the rest of the world. Access to the court, especially a jury trial, should not be blocked or limited by well-financed tort legislation enacted at the behest of powerful special interest groups. Georgia and Illinois courts are leading the way in declaring the right to jury sacrosanct for all citizens, regardless of status. We can only hope more state courts will quickly follow suit.