JACKSON (AP) — A state judge in Coahoma County has declared a legislatively imposed cap on non-economic damages unconstitutional.

 

Circuit Judge Charles Webster issued the ruling April 20 in a 14-page opinion. He criticized the Legislature for intruding into judicial authority.

 

Webster’s ruling came in a motion filed by Cleveland attorney Ralph E. Chapman in lawsuit seeking damages stemming from the death of a child in an apartment complex fire.

 

A Coahoma jury in September returned a verdict for the plaintiffs that included $6 million in non-economic damages. State law that went into effect in 2004 limits awards for non-economic damages to $1 million.

 

Chapman said Tuesday that the plaintiffs sought the ruling on grounds the cap is unconstitutional.

 

The Mississippi Supreme Court is expected to get the case.