What has gotten into Sacramento juries this year?  They’re not normally known for headline-grabbing punitive damages awards, but earlier this year a Sacramento jury awarded $28 million in punitive damages against a nursing home, and now another Sacramento jury has awarded $10 million in punitive damages against the state prison guards union, according to this Associated Press story. 

The plaintiffs in this latest case were former officials of Corrections USA, a national coalition of prison guard unions.  They claimed that the defendant, the California Correctional Peace Officers Union, seized control of Corrections USA, ousted them, and defamed them in the process.  The union says it will appeal.