Smith v. District of Columbia

Appellant recovered a verdict in this case in the amount of $7,000 against the District of Columbia for compensatory damages arising from a false arrest and assault. Appellant contends here that the trial court erred in refusing to submit to the jury the question of the District’s liability for punitive damages.

The clear weight of authority in the states is that as a general rule there can be no recovery of punitive damages against a municipality absent a statute expressly authorizing it. 1 There is no such statute in this jurisdiction. In Fisher v. City of Miami, 172 So.2d 455, 457 (Fla.…