according him an opportunity to present evidence of good faith, finds
that he instituted the prosecution without probable cause and from
malicious motives.[771] Also, as a reasonable incentive for prompt
settlement without suit of just demands of a class admitting of special
legislative treatment, such as common carriers and insurance companies
together with their patrons, a State through the exercise of its police
power may permit harassed litigants to recover penalties in the form of
attorney's fees or damages.[772] Similarly, to deter careless
destruction of human life, a State by law may allow punitive damages to
be assessed in actions against employers for deaths caused by the
negligence of their employees.[773] Likewise, by virtue of its plenary
power to prescribe the character of the sentence which shall be awarded
against those found guilty of crime, a State may provide that a public
officer embezzling public money shall, notwithstanding that he has made
restitution, suffer not only imprisonment but also pay a fine equal to
double the amount embezzled, which shall operate as a judgment for the
use of persons whose money was embezzled. Whatever this fine be called,
whether it be a penalty, or punishment, or civil judgment, it comes to
the convict as the result of his crime.[774]

Statutes of Limitation

A statute of limitations does not deprive one of property without due
process of law, unless, in its application to an existing right of
action, it unreasonably limits the opportunity to enforce that right by
suit. By the same token, a State may shorten an existing period of
limitation, provided a reasonable time is allowed for bringing an action
after the passage of the statute and before the bar takes effect. What
is a reasonable period, however, is dependent on the nature of the right
and particular circumstances.[775]

Thus, an interval of only one year is not so unreasonable as to be
wanting in due process when applied to bar actions relative to the
property of an absentee in instances when the receiver for such property
has not been appointed until 13 years after the former's
disappearance.[776] Likewise, when a State, by law, suddenly prohibits,
unless brought within six months after its passage, all actions to
contest tax deeds which have been of record for two years, no
unconstitutional deprivation is effected.[777] No less valid is a
statute, applicable to wild lands, which provides that when a per