Chief Judge Albert Diaz reduced a punitive damages award from $24 million to $2 million in a ruling on the case surrounding the death of a counterprotestor during the 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. A federal appeals court reinstated more than $2 million in punitive damages, with each plaintiff receiving $350,000 due to intentional actions by defendant James Alex Fields Jr.
Fields, a white nationalist, is serving a life sentence for murder and hate crimes after driving his car into a crowd of counter-protesters in Charlottesville.