After a jury found that an Oregon state agency violated the plaintiff’scontitutional rights when it laid her off, it required Oregon to pay her compensatoryand punitive damages. After the judgment, Oregon got 40% back. The Oregon “split recovery” statute provides that for certain punitivedamage awards, the state is entitled to 40% of the award, to be deposited into a victim’s compensation fund, even when the state is the defendant. The plaintiff claimed, among other things, that the statute effected a taking of her property without just compensation.
The Ninth Circuit held in Engquist v. Oregon Dep’t of Agriculture (No. 35170, Feb. 8, 2007) that the plaintiff’s interest in a punitive damage award was not “property” protected by the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause. The court’s takings analysis begins on page 1527 of the slip opinion.