Cite as: 532 U. S. 424 (2001)
Opinion of the Court
(1998) (in order to obtain optimal deterrence, "punitive damages should equal the harm multiplied by . . . the ratio of the injurer's chance of escaping liability to his chance of being found liable"); see also Ciraolo v. New York, 216 F. 3d 236, 244-245 (CA2 2000) (Calabresi, J., concurring). "The efficient deterrence theory thus regards punitive damages as merely an augmentation of compensatory damages designed to achieve economic efficiency." Galanter & Luban, Poetic Justice: Punitive Damages and Legal Pluralism, 42 Am. U. L. Rev. 1393, 1449 (1993).
However attractive such an approach to punitive damages might be as an abstract policy matter, it is clear that juries do not normally engage in such a finely tuned exercise of deterrence calibration when awarding punitive damages. See Sunstein, Schkade, & Kahneman, Do People Want Optimal Deterrence?, 29 J. Legal Studies 237, 240 (2000). After all, deterrence is not the only purpose served by punitive damages. See supra, at 432. And there is no dispute that, in this case, deterrence was but one of four concerns the jury was instructed to consider when setting the amount of punitive damages.12 Moreover, it is not at all obvious that even the deterrent function of punitive damages can be served only by economically "optimal deterrence." "[C]itizens and legislators may rightly insist that they are willing to tolerate some loss in economic efficiency in order to deter what they consider morally offensive conduct, albeit cost-12 The jury was instructed to consider the following factors: (1) "The character of the defendant's conduct that is the subject of Leatherman's unfair competition claims"; (2) "The defendant's motive"; (3) "The sum of money that would be required to discourage the defendant and others from engaging in such conduct in the future"; and (4) "The defendant's income and assets." App. 14. Although the jury's application of these instructions may have depended on specific findings of fact, nothing in our decision today suggests that the Seventh Amendment would permit a court, in reviewing a punitive damages award, to disregard such jury findings. See, e. g., Gore, 517 U. S., at 579-580.
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