The city has problems with vandalism and graffiti on its public construction yard. If he installs security cameras, he is required to publish. Just as courts can consider social benefit when determining liability, they can consider social benefit when determining appropriate remedy. Even if the activity in question has been characterized as disruptive, the courts may authorize its continuation if the benefits of the activity outweigh the harm to the plaintiff. In such cases, a court does not issue an injunction, but orders the harasser to make ongoing payments to the complainant. [6] In fact, the law requires the plaintiff to bear the consequences of a socially useful business, but requires that the plaintiff be compensated for the damages. Examples of private harassment abound. Harassment that affects the physical condition of the property includes vibrations or explosions that damage a home; destruction of crops; rising groundwater levels; or pollution of soil, a watercourse or a groundwater supply. Examples of nuisances that affect an occupant`s comfort, convenience or health include foul odours, harmful gases, smoke, dust, loud noise, excessive light or high temperatures. In addition, harassment can also disrupt a resident`s peace of mind, such as a neighbor guarding a vicious dog, even if an injury is only imminent and has not actually occurred.
If a jurisdiction wants to regulate harassment, it must first define the term. In general, a nuisance is something that annoys – wear and tear on the nerves caused by persistent discomfort. This can cause anger and affect comfort and peace of mind. In a regulatory environment, the term “harassment” includes anything that leads to a violation of one`s own legal rights. Zoning boards use these factors to impose restrictions on land use in certain locations. In this way, zoning laws work to prohibit public nuisance and maintain the quality of a neighborhood. (1) harass, injure or endanger the safety, health, comfort or tranquility of a large number of persons; or (2) offend morality; (3) disturbs, pollutes, obstructs or tends to obstruct or unlawfully pass a lake, river, bay, stream, canal or basin or park, square, road, alley, road or municipal public transit station; or (4) make in any way a significant number of people dangerous in life or in transactions with property; In its deliberations on Riblet v. Spokane-Portland Cement Company, 41 Wn.2d 249, 254 (1952), the State Supreme Court asked and answered the question: “What is a nuisance?” In Montana, public nuisance also refers to “any premises where persons gather for the purpose of engaging in unlawful behavior,” in addition to conduct that endangers safety or health, is offensive to the senses, or interferes with the free use of property to interfere with the comfortable enjoyment of life or property. This type of large-scale harassment is different from a private harassment lawsuit. In a private nuisance, only one or a few homeowners can be affected by an offensive smell, sound or light source, as opposed to an entire community.
The two types of harassment are private harassment and public harassment. A private nuisance is a civil injustice; It is the inappropriate, unjustified or illegal use of one`s own property in a manner that significantly interferes with the enjoyment or use of another person`s property without causing actual intrusion or physical invasion of the land. A public nuisance is a criminal injustice; It is an act or omission that impedes, infringes or harasses the rights of the community. In a case of harassment, the complainant may be compensated for the harm suffered. The nuisance is liable for damages that cover the value lost as a result of the nuisance and any reduction in the value of the property. In addition, if the harassment is an ongoing activity, the court may issue an injunction ordering the cessation of the harmful activity. While the criminal act of private harassment provides a remedy against interference with the use and enjoyment of real property, the criminal act of public nuisance allows the restoration of activities that harm a neighborhood or society. To be liable for public nuisance, the defendant must have infringed public property or a common right of the public. [1] Examples of public nuisances include pollution of waterways, disruption of the use of public parks, and creation of risks to public health.
Like private nuisances, public nuisances can be the result of negligence or deliberate activity. The courts will also consider factors such as the type of neighbourhood, the nature of the damage and the proximity of the injured. A significant difference from private harassment, however, is who can sue for damages. Common nuisances include garbage accumulation, animals, noise, hazardous buildings, sewage and unsanitary conditions, as well as interference with the public walkway that interferes with the pedestrian crossing. If the parties responsible for the harassment are not owners, their owners can evict them for creating a public nuisance. Trespassing is sometimes confused with harassment, but the two are different. The intrusion protects against interference with the right to exclusive land ownership. If a landowner drops a tree above his neighbour`s dividing line, he has committed trespassing; If her dog barks all night and keeps the neighbor awake, she can be held responsible for harassment. While the general use of the word “harassment” is something that annoys a person, harassment laws are actually about property.
Trespassing is an illegal physical entry into someone else`s property and can constitute a criminal or civil charge. A private nuisance occurs if the plaintiff`s use and enjoyment of her property is significantly and unreasonably compromised by an object or activity. When the nuisance to homeowners rises to the level of community-wide concerns, public harassment laws come into play. To learn more about your options for public harassment, contact an experienced real estate attorney in your area. In Anglo-American law, the notion of public harassment serves as a bridge between the private law of harassment and the declared public law of zoning and eminent domain. The concept of public nuisance is aligned with that of private nuisance in certain situations. Some cases of harassment may be both public and private in certain circumstances if the public harassment significantly interferes with a person`s adjacent land use. For example, polluting a river can be both a public and private nuisance. This is called a mixed nuisance. For example, in the 1970s, an oil tanker ran aground on the Maine coast, releasing 100,000 gallons of oil into the water. The result was an environmental disaster that destroyed local marine life and severely affected a city`s tourism industry. Local fishermen have filed a lawsuit for loss of livelihood and hotel and restaurant owners have filed a lawsuit for loss of business from visitors to the area.
The court ruled that the oil spill was a public nuisance because it deprived the local community of full use of the public coast. However, the court ruled that only fishermen and those who earn their living directly from the sea can successfully sue under a public nuisance theory. Unlike hotel and business owners, who have been indirectly affected in the same way as the general public, fishermen have suffered significant damage unlike everyone else. [3] There are several objections to this offense, including contributory negligence, risk-taking, harassment, or legal compliance. A public nuisance occurs when a person unreasonably interferes with a right shared by the general public. A public nuisance is a crime against the order and economy of the state. Each place: So what is the legal effect of being considered a public nuisance? Both the North Dakota Century Code and the California Civil Code define “public nuisance” as a nuisance that simultaneously affects an entire community or neighborhood or a significant number of people, although the level of harassment or harm inflicted on individuals may be uneven.