Chapter 5: Civil law & Procedure

Chapter 5:Civil law & Procedure Law in Society 2013-2014

How Do Crimes & Torts Differ? • Tort- against an individual • Damages (monetary award) • Crime- against a society

Section 5-1: Private Injuries vs. Public Offenses

Elements of a Tort • Duty- obligation to do or not to do something. • Breach- violation of the duty • Injury- harm recognized by the law. • Causation- proof that the breach caused injury.

Duties • Not to injure another. • Not to interfere w/ property rights. • Not to interfere w/ economic rights of others.

Breach • Intentional Torts- defendant intended to inflict harm by his or her action. • Negligence- harm due to the neglect or carelessness of the defendant. • Liability- imposed simply b/c a person acted in a certain way and caused injury.

Injury • Must be proved it was caused by the breach.

Causation • Showing the breach caused the injury. • Proximate Cause- amount of causation is great enough for it to be recognized by the law. • What’s Your Verdict? pg. 81 & 82

Responsibility for Another’s Torts • ALL persons, including minors, are personally responsible for their conduct and are therefore liable for their torts. • What’s Your Verdict? pg.

Section 5-2: Intentional Torts, Negligence, and Strict Liability

What Are the Most Common Intentional Torts? • Intentional Torts- possessed the intent or purpose to inflict the resultant injury. • Assault- one person intentionally puts another in reasonable fear of an offensive or harmful bodily conflict. (based on words or gestures) • Battery- harmful or offensive touching of another. (spitting on, pushing, shooting)

What Are the Most Common Intentional Torts? • Angrily raising a clenched fist and then striking someone in the face. • Assault- raised fist • Battery- blow to the face • When you act in self-defense, you have not committed a battery. • What’s Your Verdict pg. 85

What Are the Most Common Intentional Torts? • False Imprisonment- intentional confinement of a person against the person’s will and without lawful privilege. • Defamation- false statement injures a person’s reputation or good name. • Be false • Communicated to a third person • Bring the victim into disrepute, contempt, or ridiculed by others.

Homework Assignment • Tonight, go home and find an article about a celebrity that you would consider defamation. Be sure it is appropriate.

What Are the Most Common Intentional Torts? • Invasion of Privacy- uninvited intrusion into an individuals'’ personal relationships and activities in a way likely to cause shame or mental suffering in an ordinary person. • Read pg. 87 (Teacher Book)

What Are the Most Common Intentional Torts? • Trespass to Land- entry onto the property of another without the owner’s consent. • Dumping rubbish, breaking windows) • Conversion of Land- stolen property is destroyed or used in a manner inconsistent with the owner’s rights. • Converter- innocent buyer of stolen goods.

What Are the Most Common Intentional Torts? • Interference w/ Contractional Relations • Parties who breach a contract to which they are a part of must pay damages under contract law for the injury suffered by the other property. • Fraud- intentional or recklessly made misrepresentation of an existing important fact.

What Constitutes Negligence? • Duty imposed by negligence law is defined by reasonable-person standard. • Requires that you act with care, prudence, and good judgment of a reasonable person so as not to cause injury to others. • In court, the trier of fact (typically a jury) is aksed how the reasonable person would have behaved under the circumstances.

What Constitutes Negligence? • If a buddy improperly installs brakes in your car and they fail causing you to be involved in an accident, is this negligence? • In most states, even if the buddy is a layperson, it would be negligence. • What if the buddy is a professional installer? • The buddy would be held to a higher standard of care and will certainly be found to be negligence) • What’s Your Verdict? pg. 89

What Constitutes Negligence? • Breach of Duty • The “reasonable-person” standard defines the duty of due care in any specific case. • A defendant’s actual conduct is then compared with the specific duty to determine whether a violation of it has occurred. • Causation and Injury • The violation of the duty must be the proximate cause of the injury.

What Constitutes Negligence? • Defenses to Negligence • A plaintiff cannot recover for loss caused by another’s negligence if the plaintiff was negligent. (contributory negligence) • Comparative Negligence- applies when a plaintiff in a negligence action is partially at fault. • Assumption of the Risk- if plaintiffs are aware of a danger, but decide to subject themselves to the risk, that is a defense.

Why Is Strict Liability Necessary? • Strict Liability- a defendant can be held liable if he or she merely engaged in a particular activity that resulted in injury, regardless of whether or not he or she was negligent. • Proof of both the activity and the injury substitutes for proof of a violation of a duty. • Only applied when someone has engaged in abnormally dangerous activities, such as target practice, blasting, crop dusting with dangerous chemicals, or storing flammable liquids in large quantities.

Section 5-3: Civil Procedure

Remedies Available in a Civil Suit • Two types of remedies are generally available in a civil lawsuit for a tort, breach of contract, or other private injury. • Injunction • Damages

Remedies Available in a Civil Suit • Injunction- a court order for a person to do or not to do a particular act. • May be issued to prevent a private injury, to stop it from continuing, or to undo it. • Damages-monetary award by the court to a person who has suffered loss or injury because of the act or omission of another. • Compensatory Damages- meant to place the injured party in the position he or she was in prior to the injury or loss. • Punitive Damages- a type of damages generally only award in intentional tort cases.

Remedies Available in a Civil Suit • What’s Your Verdict? pg. 93

What Procedures Is Used to Try a Civil Case • Jury- selected and decide the verdict in a case. • Judge- always decides on the issues of law. • Plaintiff- the party that initiates the lawsuit by filing a complaint. • Defendant- the party complained against in a criminal or civil proceeding. • Civil juries are made up of 6 to 12 citizens who listen to witnesses, review physical evidence, and reach their decision.

Opening Statement & Testimony • Attorneys make opening statements. (briefly outlines what the plaintiff and defendant will try to prove) • Evidence is presented. (includes anything that the judge allows to be presented to the jury that helps to prove or disapprove of the alleged facts.) • Testimony- consists of statements made by witnesses under oath. • Witness- someone who has personal knowledge of the facts. • Expert Witness- professional opinion. • Subpoena- written order by the judge commanding a person to appear, give testimony, and present other evidence.

Closing Arguments & Instructions to the Jury • Each attorney gives a closing argument. • Summarizes the case, trying to persuade the judge or jury to favor his or her side. • Judge gives instructions to the jury such as the rules of law that apply to the case and what issues of fact they must decide.

Jury Deliberation and the Verdict • The jury retires to the jury room for deliberation in secret to decide the case. • Each juror must determine whether a preponderance of the evidence supports the plaintiff's case. • In a civil action, a unanimous vote of the jurors is not required. 10 out of 12. • Verdict- the jury’s decision. • Judgment- the final result of the trial. • What’s Your Verdict? pg. 96

How are Civil Damages Collected? • The defendant will pay the judgment. • If the defendant does not pay, the plaintiff may obtain a writ of execution. (process by which judgment for money is enforced) • The court directs that the defendants’ property be seized or sold. • What’s Your Verdict? pg. 96

Chapter 5: Civil law & Procedure