DAMAGES.
Vindictive damages. See EXEMPLARY DAM AGES.
In modern law, the term is not used in a legal sense to include the costs of the suit; though it was formerly so used. Coke, Litt. 267 a; Dougl. 751.
The various classes of damages here given are those commonly found in the text-books and in the decisions of courts of common law. Other terms are of occasional use (as resulting, to denote con sequential damages), but are easily recognizable as belonging to some one of the above divisions. The question whether damages are to be limited to an allowance compensatory merely in its nature and extent, or whether they may be assessed as a punish ment upon a wrong-doer in certain cases for the injury inflicted by him upon the plaintiff, has been very fully and vigorously discussed by the late Professor Greenleaf and Mr. Sedgwick, and has re ceived much attention from the courts. Tho cur rent of authorities sets strongly (in numbers, at least) in favor of allowing punitive damages. That
view of the matter is certainly open to the objection that it admits of the infliction of pecuniary punish ment to an almost unlimited extent by an irre sponsible jury, a view which is theoretically more obnoxious (supposing that there is no practical dif ference) than that which considers damages merely as a compensation, of the just amount of which the jury may well be held to be proper judges. It would also seem to savor somewhat of judicial legis lation in a criminal department to extend such damages beyond those cases where an injury is committed to the feelings of the innocent plaintiff. But see 2 Greenleaf, Ev. 253, n.; Sedgwick, Dam.
c. xviii.; id. 2d ed. App.; 1 Kent, Comm. 10th ed. 630; 3 Am. Jur. 387; .0 Bost. Law Rep. 529; 10 id.