RQ C5 Flashcards
What are the elements of false imprisonment?
4 elements
- intent to falsely imprison
- actual, discernible confinement in boundaries not of plaintiff’s choosing
- plaintiff awareness of confinement
When does a shopkeeper have a valid defense to a detained person’s allegations of false imprisonment?
If the shopkeeper can demonstrate they had reasonable intent to detain the person; i.e, they witnessed them shoplifting a product
What are the elements of defamation? The defenses?
- plaintiff must prove a statement was made
- must prove a publication without consent was made to a third party
- negligence on publisher’s behalf
- plaintiff must prove special damages
Defenses
- merely a statement of opinion
- retraction of the statement
- consent to publication
- true statement
How do the torts of defamation and invasion of privacy differ?
Invasion of privacy:
- appropiation of name/likeness
- intrusion upon seclusion
- public disclosure of private facts
- biased portrayal of events
Defamation:
A defamatory statement can be made to only one person and still be a legal thing, while invasion of privacy requires a public disclosure to a group of people
What must a plaintiff prove to win a case of intentional infliction of emotional distress?
- intensity
- duration
- related bodily harm
- underlying cause
- doctor’s note
What are the four basic elements of a negligence claim?
- presence of duty of care
- breach of duty
- breach directly caused injuries
- proving monetary losses
When might the court find that a defendant was negligent per se?
If the defendant broke a rule or regulation that they were demonstrably aware of beforehand
Explain the doctrine of res ipsa loquitur
A doctrine that implies negligence because of the nature of the injury itself, even if evidence of defendant’s behavior is absent
Difference between actual causation and proximate cause
Proximate cause- an action that was taken which can be reasonably proven to have caused the injury in question, without necessarily having directly caused it
Actual cause- An action that was directly responsible for the injury
3 basic affirmative defenses to negligence and how they differ
Contributory negligence
Assumption of the risk
Comparative negligence
Doctrine of sovereign immunity and the lawsuits it can prevent
The government cannot be sued without its consent
It can help to prevent private actors from gaining too much undue legal power over the government
How is recklessness defined? How does it differ from intentional conduct and negligence?
Recklessness- the person’s actions indicated that they acted with the intent to cause harm
Differs from intentional conduct because the specific intent in recklessness is to cause harm
In negligence, the difference is that conscious thought to cause harm must be established, while this element can be absent in negligence
What are two situations in which a court may apply the doctrine of strict liability?
Under tort law and criminal law
tort law- When a situation is by its nature dangerous, the creator of the situation is held responsible.
criminal law- Intent doesn’t need to be proven, only negligent or reckless action
Describe the three theories that a plaintiff may use to sue a manufacturer when harmed by their product
Design defect
Manufacturing defect
Marketing defect
3 basic types of damage a plaintiff can recover in a tort action and their purposes
- Statutory damages: When the amount of damages is asserted in a statute, rather than based on case fact
- Compensatory damages: Intended to compensate plaintiff for expenses
- Punitive damages: Intended to reform defendant
