________ damages are awarded to punish the defendant.

A) Nominal
B) Compensatory
C) Punitive
D) Liquidated
E) Unliquidated

Punitive damages are awarded to punish the defendant.They are given only when the defendant's conduct is extremely outrageous.The purposes of punitive damages are both to punish the defendant and to deter him and others who are similarly situated from engaging in that kind of activity again.In awarding punitive damages,juries usually consider the egregiousness or willfulness of the tort and the wealth of the defendant.Obviously,the more wrongful the nature of the defendant's act,the greater the desire to send a message that such behavior will not be tolerated; and the greater the wealth of the defendant,the higher the damages must be to actually punish the defendant.