Cite as: 509 U. S. 443 (1993)
O'Connor, J., dissenting
is lamentable that the popular prejudice against these corporations should be so powerful as to taint the administration of justice, but we cannot close our eyes to the fact"). Corporations are mere abstractions and, as such, are unlikely to be viewed with much sympathy. Moreover, they often represent a large accumulation of productive resources; jurors naturally think little of taking an otherwise large sum of money out of what appears to be an enormously larger pool of wealth. Finally, juries may feel privileged to correct perceived social ills stemming from unequal wealth distribution by transferring money from "wealthy" corporations to comparatively needier plaintiffs. Brickman, The Asbestos Litigation Crisis, 13 Cardozo L. Rev. 1819, 1849, n. 128 (1992); Ellis, Fairness and Efficiency in the Law of Punitive Damages, 56 S. Cal. L. Rev. 1, 61-62 (1982); Owen, Problems in Assessing Punitive Damages Against Manufacturers of Defective Products, 49 U. Chi. L. Rev. 1, 45-46 (1982) ( jury assessing punitive damages against multimillion dollar corporation forced to think of an award measuring seven, eight, or nine figures); see also supra, at 474-475 ( juror discretion in awarding punitive damages not limited); cf. Smith v. Covell, 100 Cal. App. 3d 947, 960, 161 Cal. Rptr. 377, 385 (1980) ( juror impressed with idea that plaintiffs had money and " 'didn't need anymore' ").
This is not to say that consideration of a defendant's wealth is unconstitutional. To be sure, there are strong economic arguments that permitting juries to consider wealth is unwise if not irrational, see Abraham & Jeffries, Punitive Damages and the Rule of Law: The Role of Defendant's Wealth, 18 J. Legal Studies 415 (1989), especially where the defendant is a corporation, id., at 421-422; cf. Zazú Designs v. L'Oréal, S. A., 979 F. 2d 499, 508-509 (CA7 1992) (Easter-brook, J.). But, "[j]ust as the Fourteenth Amendment does not enact Herbert Spencer's Social Statics, see Lochner v. New York, 198 U. S. 45, 75 (1905) (Holmes, J., dissenting)," it does not require us to adopt the views of the Law and
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