Wasn’t this case a civil suit? The parents of the murdered children suing Jones?
If it is then this was initiated by those parents and not government. The court is acting as referee between private parties so this isn’t a government penalty. You often hear of cases where damages are ridiculous but usually those are against corporations.
No it isn't. The court is acting as a vindictive punisher. If the court was being reasonable, they would have instantly tossed out such a ridiculous penalty and sanctioned everyone involved in putting it forth.
Only a ridiculous, immoral court would stand by and let such a thing happen.
The court is a participant, and a very biased one at that.
I've noticed similar ridiculous judgements over the years. One against Ralph's Grocery store chain comes to mind.
Just because 12 idiots want to feel emotional and impose draconian penalties on people is no reason any court should tolerate it.
Anyone with such bad judgement as to impose a billion dollar penalty on someone is clearly unfit for Jury duty because they are imbeciles.
The case should be tossed out on that basis alone.