468
Opinion of Kennedy, J.
between the size of the award and the degree of harm threatened by TXO's conduct. See ante, at 460-462. I do not agree that this provides a constitutionally adequate foundation for concluding that the punitive damages verdict against TXO was rational. It is a commonplace that a jury verdict must be reviewed in relation to the record before it. See, e. g., Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U. S. 307 (1979). Unlike a legislature, whose judgments may be predicated on educated guesses and need not necessarily be grounded in facts adduced in a hearing, see, e. g., Heller v. Doe, ante, at 320; FCC v. Beach Communications, Inc., 508 U. S. 307, 315 (1993); Vance v. Bradley, 440 U. S. 93, 111 (1979), a jury is bound to consider only the evidence presented to it in arriving at a judgment. Justice O'Connor demonstrates that the record in this case does not contain evidence, argument, or instructions regarding the potential harm from TXO's conduct and so would not have permitted a reasonable jury to render its verdict on this basis. See post, at 484-489. We must therefore look for other explanations of the jury verdict to decide whether it may stand.
On its facts, this case is close and difficult; Justice O'Connor makes a plausible argument, based on the record and the trial court's instructions, that the size of the punitive award is explained by the jury's raw, redistributionist impulses stemming from antipathy to a wealthy, outof-state, corporate defendant. See post, at 492-494. There is, however, another explanation for the jury verdict, one supported by the record and relied upon by the state courts, that persuades me that I cannot say with sufficient confidence that the award was unjustified or improper on this record: TXO acted with malice. This was not a case of negligence, strict liability, or respondeat superior. TXO was found to have committed, through its senior officers, the intentional tort of slander of title. The evidence at trial demonstrated that it acted, in the West Virginia Supreme
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