tORTS INTENTIONAL AND NEGLIGENT

The Elements of an Intentional Tort 1. An intentional tort. 2. An injury. 3. Tort was the proximate cause of injury. 4. Injury caused damages.

What is Proximate Cause? An act from which an injury results as a natural, direct, uninterrupted consequence and without which the injury would not have occurred. Source: The FreeDictionary dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/proximat e+cause dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/proximat e+cause dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/proximat e+cause dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/proximat e+cause

INTENTIONAL TORTS Assault Threatening to strike or harm with a weapon or physical movement, resulting in fear. Battery Unlawful, unprivileged touching of another person. Interference with contractual relations Intentionally causing one person not to enter or to break a contract with another.

False imprisonment Unlawful restraint of a person, whether in prison or otherwise. Infliction of emotional distress Intentionally or recklessly causing emotional or mental suffering to others. Defamation Wrongful act of injuring another’s reputation by making false statements. An example is libel.

What is Libel? To publish in print (including pictures), writing or broadcast through radio, television or film, an untruth about another which will do harm to that person or his/her reputation, by tending to bring the target into ridicule, hatred, scorn or contempt of others. Libel is the written or broadcast form of defamation, distinguished from slander, which is oral defamation.

IS THIS LIBEL?

The Standard for libel was established in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964).376 U.S. 254 The issue before the court was : Can a public figure receive damages in a civil libel action, if malice is not proven?

HOLDING The Court held that the First Amendment protects the publication of all statements, even false ones, about the conduct of public officials except when statements are made with actual malice (with knowledge that they are false or in reckless disregard of their truth or falsity). MALICE does not mean an intention to be mean!!!!

NEGLIGENCE A failure to behave with the level of care that someone of ordinary prudence would have exercised under the same circumstances. The behavior usually consists of actions, but can also consist of omissions when there is some duty to act Definition as found in FINEMAN p 153.

Elements of Negligence 1) that the allegedly negligent defendant had a duty to the injured party or to the general public, 2) that the defendant's action (or failure to act) was not what a reasonably prudent person would have done, and 3) that the damages were directly ("proximately") caused by the negligence. An added factor in the formula for determining negligence is whether the damages were "reasonably foreseeable" at the time of the alleged carelessness.

Palsgraf!

The reasonable person: Who is THIS PERSON?

Definition Restatement 2d. Of Torts § 3.04 The Reasonable Person The most common standard of care in negligence law commands the defendant to act as would a reasonably prudent person in the same or similar circumstances. If the defendant does so, she is protected from negligence liability. Failure to do so constitutes unreasonable conduct and, hence, breach of duty. The reasonable person standard is an objective standard that compares the defendant's conduct to the external standard of a reasonable person. Thus, the law imposes on each person of society an obligation to conform to the objective reasonableness standard. There is much debate about the fairness of this objective standard.