On this view, the conversion functions that take punitive intent to dollars (see Figure 4)
reflect intuitions about appropriate dollar awards that are neither informed nor particularly
reasonable. Even if it is granted that the jury is sovereign is deciding how much an individual or a corporation should be made to “suffer”, what knowledge do jurors have
that would enable them to convert their punitive intent into a particular dollar number?
Even experts would find that question difficult to answer. As we have seen, it is quite
plausible that individuals and juries answer it by generating arbitrary moduli, or by
clinging to numerical anchors provided in the information they receive. If community
sentiment on awards is seen as representing the averaged effects of arbitrary individual
moduli, another procedure will be required to translate punitive intent into dollar awards.