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CHAPTER 7MATERIALS TO SUPPLEMENT TEXTBOOK

J. Pittman, Instructor

Civil Law Criminal Law

Jeffrey Pittman

•  Area of concern: Rights and duties between individuals

• Wrongful act: Harm to a person or to a person's property  

• Party who brings suit: Person who suffered harm

• Standard of proof: Preponderance of the evidence

• Remedy: Damages (money) and/or an equitable remedy

• Area of concern: Offenses against society as a whole

• Wrongful act: Behavior that violates a criminal statute

• Party who brings suit: The state

• Standard of proof: Beyond a reasonable doubt

• Remedy: Punishment (fine and/or imprisonment)

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CIVIL VERSUS CRIMINAL LAW

STATE COMMON LAW PRIVACY RIGHTSThrough the common law process, state courts have

developed the following torts, providing additional privacy protections

• Intrusion Upon Seclusion• Public Disclosure of Private Facts Causing Injury to

Reputation• Publicity Placing Another in a False Light in the Public eye• Misappropriation of a Person’s Name or Likeness

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INTRUSIONThis tort is an intrusion upon a person’s right to

seclusion or solitudeThere is liability only if the interference with the

plaintiff's seclusion is a substantial one, highly offensive to the ordinary reasonable personThe “offensiveness” of the intrusion is by guided by

whether a reasonable expectation of privacy was violated

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FALSE LIGHT IN THE PUBLIC EYEThis tort involves the defendant revealing

information about a person that places that person in a false light. A plaintiff here must demonstrate:The false light in which he was placed by the publicity

would be highly offensive to a reasonable person, and The defendant had knowledge of or acted in reckless

disregard as to the falsity of the publicized matter and the false light in which the plaintiff would be placed

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PUBLIC DISCLOSURE OF PRIVATE FACTS

• This tort requires public disclosure of private information about a person that, even though true, generates publicity of a highly objectionable kind

• An example might be the disclosure of names and details about employees fired for viewing pornography at work

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APPROPRIATION• Here a defendant is charged with use of a

person’s name or likeness without permission • This invasion of privacy would include activities

such as the unauthorized use of a person’s name in an advertising campaign

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POSSIBLE NEGLIGENCE CASE• Patient visits surgeon who

advises that Patient’s parathyroid gland must be removed surgically

• For an example of this surgery, see Parathyroid Surgery: Minimally Invasive Parathyroid Surgery Video

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PARATHYROID CASE• Patient had informed surgeon that Patient has

used a psychiatric, antianxiety drug, Clomipramine, for 25 years

• Clomipramine is in a group of medications called tricyclic antidepressants

• Clomipramine works by increasing serotonin, a natural substance in the brain that is needed to preserve mental balance

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PARATHYROID CASE• During surgery,

surgeon uses an intravenous dose of Methylene Blue Dye to mark parathyroid tissue, for ease in location during surgery

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PARATHYROID CASE• After surgery, Patient went into a coma and later

died due to serotonin toxicity, brought on by the interaction of Methylene Blue Dye and Patient’s prior use of Clomipramine

• Two months after the surgery, the FDA responds with FDA Drug Safety Communication: Serious CNS reactions possible when methylene blue is given to patients taking certain psychiatric medications

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PARATHYROID CASE• Question – was the surgeon negligent in using

Methylene Blue Dye

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