
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, January 15, 1994                   TAG: 9401150149
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

JUSTICES TO REVIEW PUNITIVE-DAMAGE CURBS

The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether states can bar judges from reducing punitive-damage awards even if the judges think jurors were too generous.

The court said it will study an appeal by Honda Motor Co., stung by a $5.7 million award against it in Oregon. Honda says barring judges from reviewing the size of punitive-damage awards violates its federal due-process rights.

The case asks the justices for a third time in recent years to rein in multimillion-dollar punitive damage awards in civil lawsuits. The court refused to do so in 1991 and 1993.

by CNB