As readers of this blog and litigants and their attorneys in punitive damages cases well know, the U.S. Supreme Court gets the final say on matters of constitutional interpretation, including the due-process requirements for punitive damages awards. Except if you happen to live in West Virginia.

It turns out that the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has made it something of a habit in recent years to ignore, sidestep, or outright reject controlling principles of federal law by, as the U.S. Supreme Court itself pointed out in 2012, “misreading and disregarding” Supreme Court precedents. This trend has been particularly noticeable in punitive damages cases, in which members of the West Virginia court have openly expressed their hostility toward the Supreme Court’s due-process holdings in State Farm v. Campbell, BMW v. Gore, and Philip Morris USA v. Williams.Continue Reading West Virginia Supreme Court Of Appeals’ Refusal To Review Punitive Award For Excessiveness Under Due Process Clause Warrants Summary Reversal, Says Chamber Of Commerce In Mayer Brown-Authored Amicus Brief