False Imprisonment Claims

The world of torts is designed to protect a person from injuries to the self and to the property. These claims vary and involve a variety of different forms of liability but they all involve civil protection to the person and property.

Some of the protections offered to a person can apply in both the civil and criminal realms. One of the claims that has some sort of mirror in the criminal world is false imprisonment. False imprisonment is, according to Black's Law Dictionary, a "restraint of a person in a bounded area without justification or consent."  

In order to have a claim for false imprisonment, one must meet all of the elements of the claim. Because false imprisonment is an intentional tort, the plaintiff must be able to show that there was some form of intention to confine the person that was held or another person within the boundaries that were fixed by the defendant. For this type of claim, recklessness is sufficient.

Once intent has been proven, it is necessary to prove that there is total restraint of the individual. The claimant must have no reasonable way of escaping. So the door can be locked, etc. Jumping out of a window on a high storey does not count as a reasonable way of making one's escape. In other instances, an open door guarded by burly or threatening individuals may be enough to constitute confinement.

If a person is confined, he or she does not have to be actually aware of the confinement or even be harmed by it in order to have the claim. It is merely necessary that the confinement be actual, not that the individual be aware of the confinement at the time it is occurring.

False imprisonment claims can be filed against both private individuals, like kidnappers, or the government itself. Both groups are subject to liability if they hold someone unlawfully without consent.

In addition to the civil claim, if the imprisonment is severe enough, it can be raised by a prosecutor as a misdemeanor, in most jurisdictions. The criminal charges can be brought even if civil charges have already been filed. The same works in reverse. The two claims can be brought because they work in different realms of law. In addition, civil suits do not threaten a person's liberty and so there is no issue with double jeopardy.

False imprisonment is one of numerous personal injury lawsuits. It protects an individual's personal interest in being able to move from place to place as he or she sees fit.