The Republican Alabama Supreme Court should be ashamed of accusing citizen jurors of not knowing common sense from legalese.

The Montgomery Circuit Court jury that heard the landmark case against Exxon Mobil had no trouble understanding that the petroleum giant defrauded the people of Alabama by grossly underpaying natural gas royalties to the state from wells in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Republican court majority said shorting the state of $51.9 million was just a big boo-boo the international conglomerate made and it wasn’t worthy of punishment.

Thus, the court last week reversed the record $3.6 billion punitive damages the jury awarded to the state. The court said Alabama citizens are entitled only to the $51.9 million for gas taken, plus interest.

The jury said the state caught Exxon not playing by the rules, or living up to the terms of the lease, and the energy giant deserved punishment.

Republican courts frown on punitive damages against corporations because they are not good for the business climate.

This reversal is egregious because it allows Exxon to walk away from what the corporation and the court called an honest $52 million mistake.

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