Does the meaning of the term "punitive damages" in federal common law apply to a plaintiff's claim?

Our decision in Diamond does not (and did not purport to) write federal common law; we did not create a new remedy, cause of action, or rule of decision. We construed the language of a federal statute that by its own terms created a rule of decision; and that enterprise is, and always has been, a matter of federal law. See Molzof v. United States, 502 U.S. 301, 305-07, 112 S.Ct. 711, 715, 116 L.Ed.2d 731 (1992) ("the meaning of the term "punitive damages" as used in [28 U.S.C.] Sec. 2674, a federal statute, is by definition a

Page 672