The Washington Post reports here on a North Carolina verdict awarding $2.2 million in compensatory damages and $6.6 million in punitive damages for alienation of affection and “criminal conversation.”

In essence, the plaintiff alleged that he had a happy marriage until the defendant came along and lured his wife into an affair.  The “conversation” in question is apparently an archaic way of referring to sexual intercourse. According to the story, North Carolina is one of only six states that still permit tort claims of this nature.