Ch. 7 Intentional Torts Flashcards
What type of Civil Liability are Torts?
It’s involuntarily assumed, as imposed by law.
What are the two types of Civil Liability?
- ) Voluntarily assumed, as by contract
2. ) Involuntarily assumed, as imposed by law
What are the 3 Principal Objectives of Torts?
- ) To compensate persons who sustain harm or loss resulting from another’s conduct
- ) To place the cost of that compensation only on those parties who should bear it
- ) To prevent future harms and losses
A Tort is committed when:
- ) A DUTY owed by ons person to another
- ) is BREACHED
- ) proximately CAUSing
- ) injury or DAMAGE to the owner of a legally protected interest.
Punitive Damages
Damages over and above the amount necessary to compensate the plaintiff; designed to punish and make an example of the defendant and deter others from similar conduct
What type of law is Tort law primarily?
Common law
Intent
1.) The person acts with the purpose of producing a certain consequence.
OR
2.) He acts knowing that the consequence is substantially (almost) certain to result.
Battery
An intentional infliction of harmful or offensive bodily contact
• Must be accomplished through the use of objects
Assault
Intentional conduct by one person directed at another that places the other in apprehension of imminent (immediate) bodily harm or offensive contact
• Usually committed before battery, but if intended battery fails, assault remains
False Imprisonment/ False Arrest
The act of intentionally confining a person against her will within fixed boundaries if the person is conscious of the confinement or harmed by it
What are the 3 Types of Torts?
- ) Intentional
- ) Negligence
- ) (Strict) Liability
Tort
A private, noncontractual wrong
What are the 2 types of Defamation?
- ) Libel
2. ) Slander
What are the 4 types of Invasion of Privacy?
- ) Appropriation of a person’s name or likeness
- ) Unreasonable intrusion on the seclusion of another
- ) Unreasonable public disclosure of private facts
- ) Unreasonable publicity that places another in a false light in the public eye
Infliction of Emotional Distress
When a person by extreme and outrageous conduct intentionally or recklessly causes severe emotional distress to another
Recklessness
Conduct that evidences a conscious disregard of or an indifference to the consequences of the act committed
• Even in the absence of any physical injury
Defamation
A false communication that injures a person’s reputation by disgracing him and diminishing the respect in which he is held
Elements of Defamation
- ) A false & defamatory statement concerning another
- ) An unprivileged publication (communication) to a third party
- ) Negligence or recklessness on her part in knowing or failing to ascertain the falsity of the statement
- ) In some cases, proof of special harm caused by the publication
Libel
Handwritten, typewritten, printed, pictorial, TV, or radio
Slander
Spoken or oral
Publication
When defamation is communicated to a person(s) other than the one who is defamed
• Necessary to make it libel or slander (defamation)
What are the 3 types of Privileges?
Absolute, conditional, & constitutional
Absolute Privilege
Protects the defendant regardless of motive or intent, when public policy favors complete freedom of speech
Includes:
1. ) Statements made by participants in a judicial proceeding 2. ) Statements made by members of Congress and state & local legislative bodies 3. ) Statements made by executive branch officers while performing their duties 4. ) Statements regarding a third party made between spouses when they are alone
Conditional Privilege
Privilege to publish defamatory matter to protect one’s own legitimate interests, or in some cases the interests of another
• Depends on proper use of the privilege
Constitutional Privilege
Privilege to defamatory/false statements about public officials so long as it is done without malice– (clear & convincing proof of the publisher’s knowledge of falsity or reckless disregard for the truth)
Communications Decency Act of 1996 (CDA)
Granted immunity to Internet service providers (ISPs) from liability for defamation when publishing information originating from a third party
Appropriation
The unauthorized use of another person’s name or likeness for one’s own benefit
Public Disclosure of Private Facts
Liability is imposed for publicity given to private information about another, if the matter made public would be highly offensive and objectionable to a reasonable person
False Light
Imposes liability for highly offensive publicity placing another in a false light if the defendant knew that the matter publicized was false or acted in reckless disregard of the truth
Intrusion
The unreasonable and highly offensive interference with the solitude or seclusion of another
Misuse if Legal Procedure
Protects an individual from being subjected to unjustifiable litigation
3 Types:
- ) Malicious Prosecution
- ) Wrongful Civil Proceedings
- ) Abuse of Process
Both 1.) Malicious Prosecution and 2.) Wrongful Civil Proceedings:
Impose liability for damages caused by improperly brought proceedings, including harm to reputation, credit, or standing; emotional distress; and the expenses incurred in defending against the wrongfully brought lawsuit
Abuse of Process
Using a legal proceeding to accomplish a purpose for which the proceeding is not designed
Intentional Harm to Property includes 4 Torts:
- ) Trespass to real property
- ) Nuisance
- ) Trespass to personal property
- ) Conversion
Real Property
Land and anything attached to it, such as buildings, trees, & minerals
• The law protects the possessor’s right to the exclusive use and quiet enjoyment of the land.
Trespass to Real Property
A person intentionally does any of the following:
- ) Enters or remains on land in the possession of another
- ) Causes a thing or a third person to so enter or remain
- ) Fails to remove from the land a thing that he is under a duty to remove
Liability exists even when no actual damage is done to the land.
Nuisance
A nontrespassory invasion of another’s interest in the private use & enjoyment of land
Types: public & private
Personal Property
Any type of property other than an interest in land
Trespass to Personal Property
The intentional dispossession or unauthorized use of the personal property of another
The trespasser is liable when he:
- ) Dispossesses the other of the property
- ) Substantially impairs the condition, quality, or value of the property
- ) Deprives the possessor of use of the property for a substantial time
Conversion
An intentional exercise of dominion or control over another’s personal property that so seriously interferes with the other’s right of control as justly to require the payment of FULL value for the property (not just the damages)
• Every conversion is a trespass to personal property, but NOT vice-versa
Interference with Contractual Relations
Involves interfering intentionally and improperly with the performance of a contract by inducing one of the parties not to perform it
Fraudulent Misrepresentation
Imposes liability for the monetary loss caused by justifiable reliance on a misrepresentation of fact intentionally made for the purpose of inducing the relying party to act
Disparagement (Injurious Falsehood)
Imposes liability upon one who publishes a false statement that results in harm to another’s monetary interests if the publisher knows that the statement is false or acts in reckless disregard of its truth or falsity
Privilege
Immunity from tort liability when the defendant’s conduct furthers a societal interest of greater importance than the injury inflicted upon the plaintiff
• Ex: self-defense, defense of property, & defense of others
