Punitive damages
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Punitive damages are damages awarded to a successful plaintiff in a civil action, over and above the amount of compensatory damages, to:

1. punish the conduct of the civil defendant;
2. deter the civil defendant from committing the invidious act again; and
3. deter others from doing the same thing.

Generally, punitive damages are only awarded for egregiously invidious and wilful actions, not for mere carelessness or negligence.

The original article can be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punitive_damages.
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