Cite as: 518 U. S. 415 (1996)
Stevens, J., dissenting
cases), it may surely follow a sovereign's command that it do so when a jury has materially deviated from awards granted by other juries. If anything, the New York standard, though less deferential, is more certain.6
III
For the reasons set forth above, I agree with the majority that the Reexamination Clause does not bar federal appellate courts from reviewing jury awards for excessiveness. I confess to some surprise, however, at its conclusion that " 'the influence—if not the command—of the Seventh Amendment,' " ante, at 432 (quoting Byrd v. Blue Ridge Rural Elec. Cooperative, Inc., 356 U. S. 525, 537 (1958) (footnote omitted)), requires federal courts of appeals to review district court applications of state-law excessiveness standards for an "abuse of discretion." Ante, at 438.
The majority's persuasive demonstration that New York law sets forth a substantive limitation on the size of jury awards seems to refute the contention that New York has merely asked appellate courts to reexamine facts. The majority's analysis would thus seem to undermine the conclusion that the Reexamination Clause is relevant to this case.
Certainly, our decision in Byrd does not make the Clause relevant. There, we considered only whether the Seventh Amendment's first clause should influence our decision to give effect to a state-law rule denying the right to a jury
6 Our per curiam decision in Donovan v. Penn Shipping Co., 429 U. S. 648 (1977), provides no support for the proposition that federal appellate courts are confined to a federal standard of excessiveness. That case held only that a plaintiff who had consented to a remittitur could not challenge its adequacy on appeal. Id., at 649. Although we stated in dicta that "[t]he proper role of the trial and appellate courts in the federal system in reviewing the size of jury verdicts is, however, a matter of federal law," ibid., that broad statement was supported by citation to two cases, Hanna v. Plumer, 380 U. S. 460 (1965), and Byrd v. Blue Ridge Rural Elec. Cooperative, Inc., 356 U. S. 525 (1958), which did not involve the review of jury awards.
447
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