Cameron Grant Authors KBA Journal Article Regarding Constitutionality of Kansas’ Damages Cap Following Hillburn
The Kansas Bar Association Journal’s March/April 2022 issue features an article by Cameron Grant explaining why Kansas’ cap on noneconomic damages in wrongful death actions (KSA § 60-1903) remains constitutional, notwithstanding the Kansas Supreme Court’s 2019 decision in Hilburn that a virtually identical cap on damages in personal injury actions is unconstitutional. Grant’s article explains that a Kansan’s “inviolable” right to a jury trial extends only to those causes of action that existed at common law when Kansas’ Constitution was enacted in 1861. A wrongful death action is purely a creature of statute that did not exist under Kansas common law; therefore, Kansas’ cap on damages in wrongful death actions remains constitutional following Hilburn.
Read the entire article at the link below.
Cameron Grant