Supreme Court of the United States / October Term 1995

Bmw of North America, Inc. v. Ira Gore, Jr.

Decided May 20, 1996. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 94-896 · 517 U.S. 559 (1996) · Cited 2,781 times

Holding

The $2 million punitive damages award is grossly excessive and therefore exceeds the constitutional limit.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court. Read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

Pacific Mutual Life Insurance v. Haslip · 499 U.S. 1 (1991)
TXO Production Corp. v. Alliance Resources Corp. · 509 U.S. 443 (1993)
Browning-Ferris Industries of Vermont, Inc. v. Kelco Disposal, Inc. · 492 U.S. 257 (1989)
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan · 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
Solem v. Helm · 463 U.S. 277 (1983)
Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp. · 464 U.S. 238 (1984)
Standard Oil Co. of Ind. v. Missouri · 224 U.S. 270 (1912)
Williams v. New York · 337 U.S. 241 (1949)
Bouie v. City of Columbia · 378 U.S. 347 (1964)
Walton v. Arizona · 497 U.S. 639 (1990)
Honda Motor Co. v. Oberg · 512 U.S. 415 (1994)
Day v. Woodworth · 54 U.S. 363 (1852)
St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Railway Co. v. Williams · 251 U.S. 63 (1919)
Daniels v. Williams · 474 U.S. 327 (1986)
Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
San Diego Building Trades Council v. Garmon · 359 U.S. 236 (1959)
Shaffer v. Heitner · 433 U.S. 186 (1977)
Bordenkircher v. Hayes · 434 U.S. 357 (1978)
Gibbons v. Ogden · 22 U.S. 1 (1824)
Federal Communications Commission v. Beach Communications, Inc. · 508 U.S. 307 (1993)
City of Newport v. Fact Concerts, Inc. · 453 U.S. 247 (1981)
Miller v. Florida · 482 U.S. 423 (1987)
Witte v. United States · 515 U.S. 389 (1995)
Huntington v. Attrill · 146 U.S. 657 (1892)
Edgar v. Mite Corp. · 457 U.S. 624 (1982)
Bigelow v. Virginia · 421 U.S. 809 (1975)
Dent v. West Virginia · 129 U.S. 114 (1889)
Gryger v. Burke · 334 U.S. 728 (1948)
Railway Express Agency, Inc. v. New York · 336 U.S. 106 (1949)
Healy v. Beer Institute · 491 U.S. 324 (1989)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Campbell · 538 U.S. 408 (2003)
Cooper Industries, Inc. v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. · 532 U.S. 424 (2001)
Philip Morris USA v. Williams · 549 U.S. 346 (2007)
Johnson v. United States · 576 U.S. 591 (2015)
Green v. Brennan · 578 U.S. 547 (2016)
Randall v. Sorrell · 548 U.S. 230 (2006)
Mallory v. Norfolk Southern R. Co · 600 U.S. 122 (2023)
Neder v. United States · 527 U.S. 1 (1999)
Gasperini v. Center for Humanities, Inc. · 518 U.S. 415 (1996)
United States v. Watts · 519 U.S. 148 (1997)
Ewing v. California · 538 U.S. 11 (2003)
Tennessee v. Lane · 541 U.S. 509 (2004)
Sessions v. Dimaya · 584 U.S. 148 (2018)
United States v. Virginia · 518 U.S. 515 (1996)
National Pork Producers Council v. Ross · 598 U.S. 356 (2023)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

Explore from here

John Paul Stevens’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1996). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).