Cite as: 509 U. S. 443 (1993)
O'Connor, J., dissenting
position' of the defendant; (e) all the costs of litigation; (f) the imposition of criminal sanctions on the defendant for its conduct, these to be taken in mitigation; and (g) the existence of other civil awards against the defendant for the same conduct, these also to be taken in mitigation." Id., at 21-22.
In Haslip, the Court concluded that application of those standards "imposes a sufficiently definite and meaningful constraint" on factfinder discretion. Id., at 22. Because the standards had a "real effect," ibid., the Court upheld Alabama's regime against constitutional challenge despite the relatively sparse guidance it afforded juries.
As the plurality admits, ante, at 463-464, the jury instructions used here were not dissimilar to those employed in Haslip. Unlike Haslip, however, the verdict they produced was not subjected to post-trial review sufficient to impose a "meaningful constraint" on factfinder discretion. Indeed, the post-trial review offered here bears no resemblance to that approved in Haslip. In contrast to the trial judge in Haslip, the trial judge here made no written findings. Nor did he announce why he believed—or even if he believed— that the amount of damages bore a reasonable or recognizable relationship to actual damages or any other relevant measure. Instead, ruling from the bench, the trial judge summarily denied TXO's motions seeking reduction or elimination of the punitive damages award.
More important, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia did not do much better. At the outset, it refused to consider the possibility of remittitur because TXO "and its agents and servants failed to conduct themselves as gentlemen." 187 W. Va., at 462, 419 S. E. 2d, at 875. Proceeding to the question whether the award of punitive damages should be stricken as excessive, the court distinguished between two categories of defendants: those who are "really stupid" and those who are "really mean." Id., at 474-476, 419 S. E. 2d, at 887-889. If the defendant is "really stupid,"
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