Watching the last Democratic Debate the other night (OK, so timeliness is not a virtue here at PP--I have TiVo so I don't have to watch these things when everyone else does), I think I have come up with an elegant solution to these runaway jury awards. At one point, the candidates got to talking about excessive mental anguish awards that are given out by juries. Then, it hit me. Why hasn't anyone considered putting the mental anguish awards in some sort of trust fund that the person can access to pay for expenses relating to getting over mental anguish? Professional therapy, donations to a place of worship if the person decided to get help through a clergyperson, and expenses a psychological professional certifies is necessary for mental well-being could all be paid out of the award money. I wouldn't think it would be horribly restrictive to require a person to be receiving counseling in order to access money that was awarded specifically because of damage to his or her mental state, and to require them to use that money to improve said mental state rather than cruise to the Bahamas every winter.
After all, we live by the mantra that money cannot buy happiness.
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