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Inside Opinion

If you have questions about how the Daily News makes editorial decisions, this blog has the answers. Editorial page editor Matt Zencey and writers Frank Gerjevic and Rosemary Shinohara will discuss what they're working on, answer questions and ask your perspective on issues facing Alaska.

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Matt Zencey

Matt Zencey joined the Daily News as an editorial writer in 1985 and was named editorial page editor in May 2007. He has won several. "Best editorial writing" awards from the Alaska Press Club and was a Nieman Fellow in Journalism at Harvard University. He lives on the west side of Anchorage, where he enjoys the best weather in town and easy access to the Coastal Trail. E-mail Matt at mzencey@adn.com

Frank Gerjevic

Frank Gerjevic has worked at the Daily News since 1978, where he's been sports editor, copy editor, reporter and columnist. He's been an editorial writer since 1998. He began his newspaper career with the Anchorage Times in 1975. E-mail Frank at fgerjevic@adn.com

Rosemary Shinohara

Rosemary Shinohara is an editorial writer who has lived most of her life in Alaska. She has spent most of her career as a reporter or editor at the Daily News. She covered construction of the Alaska oil pipeline, the Legislature, schools and urban affairs. She has also been an editor for NPR's All Things Considered, and has written for the Associated Press. E-mail Rosemary at rshinohara.com

Jury foreman Ken Murray said after he and his colleagues issued the $5 billion judgment, “We looked at the company’s bottom line and financial status and said here’s a company that continued to make profits. Doesn’t look like a bad thing had happened to this company. We weighed that against what would get their attention. . . . Is this going to be enough to tell the Exxons of the world to stop it and to take a look at all of their safety-sensitive positions?”

Even at $5 billion, the full punitive damage judgment was not that painful to Exxon. On the first full day of trading after the ruling, Exxon’s stock actually went up 75 cents a share. In its annual reports in the years right after the spill, Exxon told investors that lawsuits arising from the spill would not have an adverse impact on the company.

Turns out Exxon was right about that.

And so, thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, the message today to companies that cut corners and risk ruining the lives of thousands of innocent people is this: Go ahead, take the chance, if you want to. If you gamble and lose, you won’t lose that much. We’ve made sure that whatever you have to pay will be just another cost of doing business.

BOTTOM LINE: Exxon was the big winner with Wednesday's Supreme Court ruling.

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10 November 20, 2008 - 12:53pm | abidiks

A great read, very

A great read, very informative
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9 October 29, 2008 - 7:51am | ammys

Henry Durand is a young

Henry Durand is a young federal agent who is given a difficult assignment: spy on his mother and her boyfriend who is suspected of leading a gang of art thieves.
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8 October 28, 2008 - 1:57am | anitas

Mason, who lives on the

Mason, who lives on the streets, wants to cease his life when on the same day his two best friends die: His dog and an older man with whom he shared his food and roof.
download movies

7 October 11, 2008 - 9:45am | anitas

Super

Thanks for the nice review of all the options. It's really usefull.
new movies

6 July 22, 2008 - 1:29pm | minerannie

drunk boat capt

when a drunken boat captain and tired creww runs there ship into a reef and spilled oil all over the water and the supreme court turns down the full amount. u p----s. u ppl shouldnt have the ability to be in office. your afraid to make waves. this was the largest spill ever. it put thousands of ppl out of work and u idiots sided with exxon. what kind of b---s do you have. what about the ppl like me that lost there lively hoods and cant work . i tell ya. some ppl got paid off and it wasnt me. i know p[pl like this. if fire the ppl in office. and turn things around. so what huh. and the ppl suffer again. what else is new.
so when do we get our money.do you ppl at the supreme court know the date/ or is there more "words" comming out of your mouths. politics have screwed up this country for along time. alot of the smal businesses have gone under because of politics and have been sold over seas. there selling out america. so why vote. thanks politicians for the high gas rates we have. you dont know how to run a country. your to scared to help the american ppl. what do you know what is best for us or what do you know what "we" want. your just shooting from the hip anyway and again passifing us. your not for the ppl your just looking out for your selves. look at the past like 20 yrs ago. we didnt need all this high tech stuff . its u ppl that brought it on to us. we didnt want it. u did. your never going to fix this country. not in my life time anyway. so get with it. i am hoping someday that the ppl will go on stryke and close the us down. u cant arrest every one. and that little 600$ i got big deal. it went in my tank. i still cant go on vacation. and i thank the congress for that. the pres dosent run this country. the idiots in congress does. and a very poor score also. i dont care what i say here. its the truth and alot of ppl i talk to are getting very fed up with the politicians. its very bad for the little people but not for the rich politicians. they drive a nice car and i had to park mine and quit my job because i cant afford to go to work.
enough said.
what is good for the ppl. getting rid of congress. thats whats good for the ppl. and the idiots that prolong whats ritefully ours.and one more thing. where are these polls they have ? hum i never see them.
they ought to have a poll every 2 mo and really ask what the ppl want. not just ask 2 ppl. ask everyone.

5 July 21, 2008 - 8:33pm | minerannie

plaintiff`s money

when are we going to get our money? were suppose to get 15,000.00$. and who said it was paid in full? i havent seen a penny yet. what date are they going to send it? i got a packet at the beggining of the yr.i sent in a form for direct depost to have it sent to my bank. so when will it be sent? or when will i get it. it would be nice. it has been settled.
anyone know? email me at equalizer3@hotmail.com.

4 July 15, 2008 - 9:33am | Aklabwalker

There was big money to be had dropping what ever it was

you were doing at the time to go to work for Veco cleaning up the spill. Many of the plantiffs went to work for Veco and as a result paid off their boat loans sold their fishing permits, retired and left the state. Not only is Alaska a conservative state it is a welfare state and the lawsuit, in many ways, was reflection of that conservative welfare mindset.
Except for the plantiffs very few were surprised by the decision and they aren't willing to honestly discuss why. And one of the reasons why has to do with the ongoing cleanup and the millions sitting in the account to clean up the sound and return it to its pristine condition. You can point one finger at Exxon and one at the court but you still have two pointing at the plantiffs.
Proof of the stupidity or the lack thereof. Look no further than the Seattle processors. They settled and bankrolled a pretty substantial amount considering what they would have had they held out like the other plantiffs.
Just my .02

3 June 30, 2008 - 3:05pm | vraven54

exxon Valdez

People often mention how much Exxon did to clean up the mess they made. In the first hours after the spill Exxon did nothing except say how many boats and other equipment were out there cleaning it up. In actuality the boats were observed from the air sitting at the docks while the oil spread. They did nothing of consequence. The photos we see of workers aiming high pressure water streams at the oil on top of the rocks were sad. All that did was force the oil under the rocks and into the dirt layers. The oil and the chemicals from the oil are all still there, contaminating and killing the wildlife in the area.

What is sadder still is the fact that Alaska is a Republican state and the Republican presidents, Bush 1 and Bush 2 are the ones who appointed the 5 justices that made the Supreme Court decision. Hmmm. Alaska got what it asked for: reducing "excessive punitive damages" that hurt big businesses. This is what the Republicans stand for. It isn't so nice when it hurts you, is it?

2 June 25, 2008 - 11:20pm | TheSdog

Write new law?

Did anybody on the editorial board bother to read the decision?

There is a lot of valuable insight in the decision on how punitive damages are determined. There is also some insight into the problem with the inconsistency of how punitive damages are assessed.

It is interesting that the ADN completely ignores the money Exxon spent at the time including money in compensating losses. The ADN also ignores that many of the supposed "victims" were not victims at all. The whole idea that Exxon did not take any responsibility is preposterous and typical of the pro-lawyer, anti-business stand typically present in your editorials.

The problem with punitive damages that the court failed to address is it is often not about punishment but greedy trial lawyers looking to make cash. something like this happens and everybody is trying to win the lottery. It is why we have 33% of the worlds lawyers for 5% of the world's population.

If it were truly "punitive" than the money should not go to the plaintiffs or the lawyers. It should go into an environmental clean-up fund.

It should not be the civil court system's responsibility to punish and enforce law. It should be through the criminal court system and/or fines.

Exxon was not the big winner. Unfortunately, SCOTUS did not really define how to calculate punitive damages for the future.

Let us just hope Alaska does not make the state tort heaven in response. We already do enough to shun business up here.

June 26, 2008 - 10:18am | cjc

Your Position

Did you suffer any finacial loss due to this disaster? I'm going to venture a guess that you have not lost a cent.

July 22, 2008 - 1:14pm | minerannie

exxon my loss

yeah i did. and im one of the plaintiffs. so when is the payouts going to be. id like my share. i got laid off because of these jerks. and its gone on long enough. they owe me for 10 yrs of no work. and the interest included. enough of the small talk already. give us our damages.
i filled out the paperwork like we were requested and . nothing yet. its been settled settled. now pay up exxon. u made alot in your stocks the past 10 yrs. u can afford it.
quit passifying us.

July 22, 2008 - 10:47pm | TheSdog

Based on your post

you should take what money you do get and spend it on some form of education.

July 15, 2008 - 9:42am | Aklabwalker

Everyone that suffered a financial loss

was compensated for their loss and future losses and signed on the bottom line that the settlement was in full and that they were made whole.
The issue is punitive damages and like Sdog suggests, you don't understand the essence of punitive damages or you refuse to because you have been conditioned that way. Millions of Exxon dollars remain for cleanup today and future restoration of the sound. The plaintiffs failed to show that Exxon didn't learn its lesson. And to continue discussing this isn't going to close the wound. Maybe a political plow by the ADN at electing more liberal leaning politicians?

July 21, 2008 - 8:04pm | minerannie

paid in full exxon valdez? i didn`t. im still waiting.7/21/08

im one of the plantiffs in the class action suits and i havn`t gotten a penny yet. i got a packet with a bunch of forms and a form to attach a blank check with my routing number and bank account on it with other tax papers to fill out. in the final decision the supreme court ruled about 15,000.00$ to each plantiff including interest. when are they going to send it out. when are the checks going to start flying? i could use the money now. we would like to buy a nice home. . can anyone shed some lite on the subject? but again who said we got a payment in full? we didnt. and who do you contact? helpppppppppppppppppppppppppp.email me at equalizer3@hotmail.com

July 21, 2008 - 8:35pm | minerannie

where is my "paid in full"?

my wife and i areone of the plaintiffs and we havent been"paid in full yet" some one out there is telling stories. or telling lies.. we havent gotten ours yet. were suppose to get 15,000.00 each. that is what the settlement says. we turned in our info for direct deposit in our account. when is the date it will happen? or when will the money be sent out?
no one has asked that yet. wheres the beef? lol equalizer3@hotmail.com

June 26, 2008 - 11:57am | TheSdog

That is not

the point of "punitive" damages.

July 22, 2008 - 8:52pm | minerannie

exxon spill.

for everyones answers on this whole thing go to www.exspill.com. it has the whole case transcripts and the court order from sept 94 to pay everyoone 4.9 billion in change. from the supreme court. now congress screwed that up.

July 22, 2008 - 8:52pm | minerannie

exxon spill.

1 June 25, 2008 - 6:23pm | JusticeLeeger

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court really had their way.
Raped children and Alaskans in the same day.

June 26, 2008 - 8:35am | Randasue

You are right boy what an

You are right boy what an injustice

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Exxon ruling - ADN editorial