Bell Ringer What is a crime? What is a tort? What is the difference between a crime and a tort?

Bell Ringer What is an unintentional tort? What is an intentional tort? What is the USA PATRIOT Act?

CH 4: The Law of Torts

Difference between Criminal Law & Tort Law A crime harms not only specific individuals but also the general welfare – It’s governments job to protect the safety and well being of society, and the government is responsible to punish individuals. A tort is a private wrong committed by one person against another – A tort will lead the wronged party to try and recover money as compensation for loss or injury, and the government is not called upon to punish individuals

Tort Rights The law of torts is grounded in the concept that people are entitled to certain rights simply because they are members of society – The right to be free from bodily harm – The right to enjoy a good reputation – The right to conduct business without unwarranted interference – The right to own property free from damage or trespass In certain circumstance other rights exist: In Hospitals people have the right to competent care

Basis of Torts & Un/Intentional Torts The law places on all people the duty to respect the rights of others Tort law governs the relationship between rights and duties Torts can be classified as intentional or unintentional An intentional tort occurs when a person knows and desires the consequences of his or her action. An unintentional tort occurs when a person unintentionally causes injury, damage, or loss

Intentional Torts Intentional Torts occur when a person knows and desires the consequence of his act. The main difference between a crime and a tort is which court is trying the event. If it is tried in criminal court, it is a crime. If it is tried in civil court, it is a tort.

Intentional Torts Assault: Threatening to strike or harm with a weapon or physical movement, resulting in fear – Assault as a tort & crime are different. The victim of a tort must know that the tortfeasor, or person who committed the tort, meant to commit harm (necessary for establishing fear) Battery: Unlawful, unprivileged touching of another person

Trespass: Wrongful injury or interference with the property of another Originally under common law a person owned property in all directions. – If a person owned a house, under old common law a person technically owned under their house to the core of the earth, and as high into the sky as the atmosphere reached. Modern day laws have rewritten laws to limit the height and depth of an individual’s ownership. This helps to prevent air travel concerns

Nuisance: anything that interferes with the enjoyment of life or property (loud noises, fumes, smoke, etc) False Imprisonment: if an individual is arrested without meeting the requirements of probable cause or a warrant – Because of the prevalence of shop lifting store owners can detain a suspect in a reasonable manner for a reasonable time if they reasonably suspect someone of stealing

Defamation: the wrongful act of injuring another’s reputation by making false statements – Libel: a false statement in written or printed form that injures another’s reputation or reflects negatively on that person’s character You can generally sue for Libel if the statement is proved false and communicated to at least one other person – Slander is a false statement that is made orally to a third party People are allowed to speak the truth as long as it is done without spite or ill will.

Invasion of Privacy: interfering with a person’s right to be left alone, which includes the right to be free from unwanted publicity and interference with private matters – New York and California have legally added the right to privacy to their states – The Federal Privacy Act of 1974 protects individuals against invasion of privacy by federal agencies Keep in mind people gave up a degree of privacy after 9/11 when the USA PATRIOT Act was passed and people feared of another terrorist attack. Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001

Opponents of the law have criticized its… – authorization of indefinite detentions of immigrants; – the permission given law enforcement officers to search a home or business without the owner’s or the occupant’s consent or knowledge; – the expanded use of National Security Letters, which allows the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to search telephone, , and financial records without a court order; – expanded access of law enforcement agencies to business records, including library and financial records. – Since its passage, several legal challenges have been brought against the act, and Federal courts have ruled that a number of provisions are unconstitutional.

Unintentional Torts An unintentional tort occurs when a person unintentionally causes injury, damage, or loss Injury that is caused by a person’s mere carelessness is known as negligence – You keep a pet tiger in your backyard. You forget to lock the gate one day and your neighbors dog gets eaten.

Strict Liability Injury cause by an individuals participation in ultra hazardous activity is known as Strict Liability.

Elements of Negligence To successfully sue for negligence the plaintiff must prove all of the following elements: – The defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care (the defendant failed to act as a reasonable person would have acted) – This failure to use the degree of care required under the circumstances is called breach of duty – The Breach of duty by the defendant was the proximate cause of the injury to the plaintiff – The plaintiff suffered some actual harm or injury

Duty of Care From before you know that torts are based in rights Since all members of society have rights, we all have a duty to not violate those rights Therefore the “duty of care” concept becomes extremely important in negligence lawsuits If a plaintiff can not demonstrate that the defendant owed him duty of care there is no case

Breach of Duty You commit a breach of duty to another person by not exercising the degree of care that a reasonable person would exercise in the same situation – The “Reasonable Person” test is an objective test (can differ) – Judges must be careful when issuing instruction in tort cases – The “reasonable person” test is not a what would you have done test, but what an “average person,” “normal person,” “logical person” or “reasonable person” would have done in that situation.

Proximate Cause Proximate cause is the legal connection between unreasonable conduct and the resulting harm. Without proximate cause, the result would not have occurred Courts apply the foreseeability test to determine proximate cause, “Was the injury to the plaintiff foreseeable at the time that the defendant engaged in the unreasonable conduct?”

Actual Harm The injured party in a lawsuit for negligence must show that actual harm was suffered. Did the plaintiff suffer physical injury, property damage, or financial loss? Without harm there is no negligence.

Defense to Negligence To defend against negligence people can try to eliminate one of the four elements of the case – They owed no duty, they acted as a reasonable person would, their conduct was not the proximate cause, there were no injuries If you can not eliminate one of these then people can argue contributory negligence, comparative negligence, or assumption of risk.

Contributory Negligence: Behavior by the plaintiff that helps to contribute to his or her injuries – Frank gets hit by a car, but only because he was walking in the middle of the road. Frank was negligence so he gets nothing. Comparative Negligence: The negligence of each party is compared, and the amount of the plaintiff’s recovery is reduced by the percent of his or her negligence – Frank wins $10,000 but is 30% negligence, so he only gets $7,000 Assumption of Risk: A defendant knew the risks involved before and still took the chance of being injured – Bungee Jump

Strict Liability Some activities are so dangerous that the law will apply neither negligence nor the rules of intentional torts to them Under these rules if any injury occurs, regardless how careful someone was, they are liable This only applies to ultrahazardous activates: using explosives, keeping wild animals, storing flammable liquids in densely populated areas, product liability cases, etc.