Henry Washington v. Robert Gilmore, 124 F.4th 178

Prison guard T.S. Oswald sexually assaulted prisoner Henry Washington on two separate occasions, in 2013 and 2015.
Both assaults involved physical sexual abuse and degrading treatment while Washington was handcuffed and under Oswald's control.
Washington suffered significant physical injury and emotional harm from the assaults.
A jury awarded Washington $20,000 in compensatory and $25,000 in punitive damages for the first assault, and $20,000 in compensatory and $200,000 in punitive damages for the second assault.
Oswald moved for judgment as a matter of law, a new trial, and remittitur to reduce punitive damages, all of which were denied by the district court.
On appeal, Oswald raised the sufficiency of the evidence and the constitutionality/excessiveness of the punitive damages under both federal law and the Due Process Clause.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of Evidence	Oswald committed both assaults, testified with detail, and evidence corroborates his presence	Washington failed to identify Oswald by name; evidence insufficient to link Oswald to assaults	Sufficient evidence supported the jury's finding against Oswald
Punitive Damages – Federal Common Law Limit	No federal common-law cap for § 1983 punitive damages	Exxon and maritime law principles require a cap on punitive damages	Exxon does not apply; no federal common-law cap here
Punitive Damages – Constitutionality (Due Process Clause)	Punitive damages proportionate given severity, intent, and harm suffered; similar to comparable cases	Awards, especially second, are excessive (10:1 ratio) and violate due process	Awards are not unconstitutional; ratios justified by the facts and comparable cases
Aggregation of Damages Ratios	Aggregating is appropriate for related wrongs	Each incident should be considered separately	Each assault considered separately; both awards independently constitutional

State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Campbell, 538 U.S. 408 (guideposts for reviewing punitive damages for constitutionality)
BMW of N. Am., Inc. v. Gore, 517 U.S. 559 (constitutional limits on punitive damages)
Cooper Indus. v. Leatherman Tool Grp., 532 U.S. 424 (standard of review for constitutional excessive damages)
TXO Prod. Corp. v. Alliance Res. Corp., 509 U.S. 443 (consideration of potential harm in punitive damages review)
Farmer v. Brennan, 511 U.S. 825 (special vulnerability of prisoners for Eighth Amendment analysis)
Smith v. Wade, 461 U.S. 30 (availability of punitive damages in § 1983 cases)