Tort: a private civil wrong against a person or his property, which does not involve a breach of contract.  Standard of proof is preponderance of evidence (most of the evidence supports; less stringent than "beyond reasonable doubt" standard)

The four types of wrongfulness associated with torts are:

1. Intent: the desire to cause certain consequences or the certainty that one's actions will result in those consequences

2. Recklessness: willful and wanto conduct, a conscious indifference to a known and substantial risk of harm caused by one's actions.

3. Negligence: failure to use reasonable care, causing harm to another party.

4. Strict Liability: liability irrespective of fault

Battery is the intentional and harmful or offensive touching of another without his consent.

-> Harmful: produces bodily injury 

-> Offensive: offends a reasonable sense of personal dignity

Assault occurs when there is an intentional attempt or offer to cause a harmful or offensive contact with another pserson, if that attempt or offer causes a resasonable apprehension of imminent battery in the other person's mind.

Emotional Distress constitutes extreme and outrageous conduct that intentionally or recklessly causes severe emotional distress.

-> Extreme and outrageous behavior exceeds all bounds of usually tolerated behavior in a civilized community

-> So severe that no reasonable person can be expected to endure it

-> Conduct must be directed at the plaintiff and cause severe emotional distress to find the defendant liable.

False imprisonment is the intentional and complete confinement of an individual for an appreciable time without the individual's consent.

-> Complete indicates that there is no existing means or knowledge of an escape without risk of harm; use of physical force or threats toward plaintiff or his family; assertion of authority; plaintiff's personal property detained; plaintiff aware of confinement.

-> Appreciable time is time sufficient to be readily perceived and estimated.

-> Consent given must be offered freely and intelligently.

Defamation is the unprivileged publication of false and defamatory statments concerning another.

-> Libel: written or printed defamation

-> Slander: all other (typically oral) defamatory statments

-> False and defamatory indicates that it be likely to harm the reputation of another by injuring his community's estimation of him or by deterring others from him.

-> Must be concerning the plaintiff, in that the statements must be directly about him, or undoubtedly reference him in a satirical or "fictional" sense, such that it is obvious that he is the subject, and may only apply to a small group of people.

-> Publication generally refers to widespread communication of statement.  It must always refer to spread of statments between defendant and someone other than the plaintiff herself.

Invasion of Privacy refers to four distinct torts which pertain to a different sense of "privacy".

1. Intrusion on Solitude or Seclusion

2. Public Disclosure of Private Facts

3. False Light Publicity

4. Commercial Appropriation of Name or Likeness

Intrusion on Solitude or Seclusion - any intentional intrusion on the solitude or seclusion of another constitutes an invasion of privacy if that intrusion would be highly offensive to a reasonable individual, and when there is a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Public Disclosure of Private Facts - publicizing facts concerning someone's private life can be an invasion of privacy if the publicity would be highly offensive to a reasonable person.

-> Publicity refers to the widespread communication of private details.

False Light Publicity - publicity that places a person in a false light in the public eye can be an invasion of privacy if that false light would be highly offensive to a reasonable person.

-> False light indicates that it attributes characteristics or beliefs to a person who does not possess them.