Brian Bilbray: “I think if you tried to explain this to the average citizen in the United States, they would think it is absurd that…”

“I think if you tried to explain this to the average citizen in the United States, they would think it is absurd that somebody is going to be given a fine and that fine is going to be given to the plaintiff. With fines and forfeitures in criminal cases, we do not have those fines and forfeitures going to the victim of the crime. That may be more logical than what we have here because at least in the criminal case they have not been made whole. By definition, they should have been made whole before punitive is ever considered. I think what we have to do is get the lottery out of this. I would ask that we support this amendment. I would prefer that all punitive damages go to a public fund because that is where penalty fees should be going. They go to a public fund in a criminal case. By definition, they should be going to such a fund.”