James Clark McReynolds

“ Not love, not sorrow, not mental anguish, not sentiment, but loss in money 'as the direct result of the death,' and beyond that money loss 'it not being permissible for the jury to go.' The standard, then, is money loss, or, to use the court's words, 'the pecuniary injury suffered.' No prompting to or excuse for impulse or passion was given, nor was imagination left any sway. The judgment of the jury was brought and held to the money value of the life destroyed to wife and children dependent upon it. ”

“ A money standard with careful iteration, it will be observed, is declared throughout, and there is no dispute as to the elements to which it is to be applied, and of which the law assigns to the jury the duty of estimating. I repeat, no error is asserted of these elements or of the estimate of their pecuniary value by the jury, but counsel say that they were made vicious and might have been exaggerated or misunderstood by the comparison made by the court between the widow and children and dependents who were mere next of kin, and between infants and adults. ”

“ It cannot be that the law declared by an appellate court is unsuitable to be followed by a trial court. The court, besides, in the pending case, did no more than express the elements of damages as dependent upon the relationship of the deceased to the beneficiaries. The distinction is a natural one, based on the realities of life, and I cannot conceive of a mistake by the jury in its application. ”