SB 871 — Civil Actions - Punitive Damage Awards - Surcharge
MD 2026RS session · introduced 2026-02-06
Providing that punitive damages may be awarded in a civil action only if the plaintiff proves by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with gross negligence; requiring the State Court Administrator to assess a certain surcharge on a defendant against whom a judgment for punitive damages is entered; requiring the Administrator to deposit money collected from the surcharge into the Blueprint for Maryland's Future Fund; applying the Act prospectively; etc.
Latest action: — In the Senate - Hearing 3/11 at 1:00 p.m.
Sponsors (1)
- William C. Smith (D, MD-20) — sponsor · 2026-02-06
Action timeline (2)
- · senate — First Reading
- · senate — Hearing — Judicial Proceedings
Text versions (0)
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Bill text (extracted)
Amendments
Congressional Research Service briefs (0)
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Connected on the graph
1 typed relationship in the influence graph — 0 inbound, 1 outbound, grouped by type.
referred to committee (1)
| date | dir | entity | amount | role | source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | → | Senate judicial proceedings | — | md-leg |
Who matters on this bill
Who matters
Members ranked by combined influence on this bill: role (sponsor 5 / cosponsor 1), capped speech count from the Congressional Record, and recorded-vote engagement.
| # | Member | Role | Speeches | Voted | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William C. Smith (D, state_upper MD-20) | sponsor | 0 | — | 5 |
Stance (positions taken)
Predicted vote
Aggregated from: actual roll-call votes (when present) → sponsor → cosponsor → party median (predicts YES when ≥25% of the caucus sponsored/cosponsored). Each row labels its confidence tier so you can see why a position was predicted.
0 predicted yes (0%) · 543 predicted no (100%) · 0 unknown (0%)
By party: · R: 0 yes / 277 no · D: 0 yes / 263 no · I: 0 yes / 3 no
Timeline
Every typed-graph event involving this entity, newest first. Each row is one edge in the influence graph; the inline strip under the row shows the counterpart's own context (a bill's latest action, a hearing's chamber + date, a filing's form type + filed date, a clip's source + excerpt) so the timeline reads like a Wikipedia citation rail.
- 2026-05-24 · was referred to Senate judicial proceedings · md-leg