Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company v. Cleopatra Haslip et al.

Decided March 4, 1991. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 89-1279 · 499 U.S. 1 (1991) · Cited 1,406 times

Holding

The punitive damages award in this case did not violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

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 7–1.

“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.

• Giaccio v. Pennsylvania · 382 U.S. 399 (1966)
• Browning-Ferris Industries of Vermont, Inc. v. Kelco Disposal, Inc. · 492 U.S. 257 (1989)
• Mathews v. Eldridge · 424 U.S. 319 (1976)
• Den Ex Dem. Murray v. Hoboken Land & Improvement Co. · 59 U.S. 272 (1856)
• Snyder v. Massachusetts · 291 U.S. 97 (1934)
• Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. · 418 U.S. 323 (1974)
• Bankers Life & Casualty Co. v. Crenshaw · 486 U.S. 71 (1988)
• Shaffer v. Heitner · 433 U.S. 186 (1977)
• Williams v. Illinois · 399 U.S. 235 (1970)
• Burnham v. Superior Court of Cal., County of Marin · 495 U.S. 604 (1990)
• Day v. Woodworth · 54 U.S. 363 (1852)
• Gideon v. Wainwright · 372 U.S. 335 (1963)
• Smith v. Wade · 461 U.S. 30 (1983)
• Missouri Pacific Railway Co. v. Humes · 115 U.S. 512 (1885)
• Solem v. Helm · 463 U.S. 277 (1983)
• Hoffman Estates v. Flipside, Hoffman Estates, Inc. · 455 U.S. 489 (1982)
• Ake v. Oklahoma · 470 U.S. 68 (1985)
• Kolender v. Lawson · 461 U.S. 352 (1983)
• Rosenbloom v. Metromedia, Inc. · 403 U.S. 29 (1971)
• Schall v. Martin · 467 U.S. 253 (1984)
• Twining v. New Jersey · 211 U.S. 78 (1908)
• Aetna Life Insurance v. Lavoie · 475 U.S. 813 (1986)
• Adamson v. California · 332 U.S. 46 (1947)
• International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers v. Foust · 442 U.S. 42 (1979)
• Robertson v. Baldwin · 165 U.S. 275 (1897)
• Morrissey v. Brewer · 408 U.S. 471 (1972)
• Santosky v. Kramer · 455 U.S. 745 (1982)
• Daniels v. Williams · 474 U.S. 327 (1986)
• Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill · 470 U.S. 532 (1985)
• Grayned v. City of Rockford · 408 U.S. 104 (1972)

Cited by

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

• TXO Production Corp. v. Alliance Resources Corp. · 509 U.S. 443 (1993)
• State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance v. Campbell · 538 U.S. 408 (2003)
• Honda Motor Co. v. Oberg · 512 U.S. 415 (1994)
• BMW of North America, Inc. v. Gore · 517 U.S. 559 (1996)
• 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)
• Gentile v. State Bar of Nev. · 501 U.S. 1030 (1991)
• Williams v. Pennsylvania · 579 U.S. 1 (2016)
• Kerry v. Din · 576 U.S. 86 (2015)
• Schad v. Arizona · 501 U.S. 624 (1991)
• Sessions v. Dimaya · 584 U.S. 148 (2018)
• Molzof v. United States · 502 U.S. 301 (1992)
• Atlantic Sounding Co. v. Townsend · 557 U.S. 404 (2009)
• Mertens v. Hewitt Associates · 508 U.S. 248 (1993)
• Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Co. · 500 U.S. 614 (1991)
• Department of Revenue of Mont. v. Kurth Ranch · 511 U.S. 767 (1994)
• Connecticut v. Doehr · 501 U.S. 1 (1991)
• Weiss v. United States · 510 U.S. 163 (1994)
• Department of Housing and Urban Development v. Rucker · 535 U.S. 125 (2002)
• United States v. Vaello Madero · 596 U.S. 159 (2022)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1991). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).