Meathook Reality

A Tort is basically defined as a harm done against a person. I have an entire class on these, where we discuss everything from Battery to Assault to False Imprisonment. Because these civil offenses are so old and well-defined, we have plenty of cases to work with, and spend a lot of time bringing up hypothetical situtations and examining them with an eye towards determining if an offense occurred, and what defenses can be used. Class discussion works its way into one big babble of “What If…”

When I teach this class, it will be different.

My class will be one big game of “Whose line is it, anyway?”

“You. Third row. You’re going to be party A.”

“In the back, you’re party B. Now come down here and we’re going to have A brandish a fist at B.”

“Ok, B, do you feel immanently threatened with personal harm?”

(The class votes, B feels threatened)

“Ok, B, go ahead and throw this eraser at A, back in the third row.”

(B throws eraser, but hits C, in the 2nd row)

“Ok, class. What we have here are a series of torts. B clearly battered C unintentionally by throwing an eraser. Since B was attempting to batter A, however, the doctrine of transferred intent applies. However, since B was being assaulted by A at the time, B can plead self-defense.”