Supreme Court of Alabama
Target Media Partners Operating Company, LLC, and Ed Leader v. Specialty Marketing Corporation d/b/a Truck Market News
August 29, 2014
Summary
The Supreme Court of Alabama affirmed the punitive-damages awards of $630,000 against Target Media and $503,400 against Target Media and Ed Leader. The court agreed that the awards were not excessive because the misconduct was highly reprehensible, the awards bore a reasonable relationship to the harm and profits involved, and the punitive-to-compensatory ratio was 3:1. The court also concluded that the awards were sufficient to punish and deter without violating due process.