Intentional Torts - False Imprisonment

Question 1

False Imprisonment - Results when a defendants acts:

Answer 1

i) Intending to confine or restrain the plaintiff within boundaries fixed by the defendant
ii) Those actions directly or indirectly result in such confinement; and
iii) The plaintiff is conscious of the confinement or is harmed by it

Question 2

Confined Within Boundaries

Answer 2

Plaintiff must be confined within a bounded area in which the plaintiff’s freedom of movement in all directions is limited.
The bounded area may be large and need not be stationary.
An area is not bounded if there is a reasonable means of safe escape.

Question 3

Methods of Confinement

Answer 3

Defendant may confine or restrain the plaintiff by the use of physical barriers, physical force, direct or indirect threats (to the plaintiff, a third party, or the plaintiff’s property), or by the the invalid use of legal authority, duress, or the failure to provide a reasonable means of safe escape.
A court may find that the defendant has confined the plaintiff when he has refused to perform a duty to release the plaintiff from an existing confinement or provide a means of escape.

Question 4

Shopkeeper’s Privilege

Answer 4

A shopkeeper’s reasonable (in both duration and manner) detention of a suspected shoplifter is not an invalid use of authority and hence is not a false imprisonment.

Question 5

Methods of Confinement - Moral Pressure

Answer 5

Defendant’s use of moral pressure or future threats does not constitute confinement or restraint. The plaintiff is not imprinted if she submitted willingly to confinement.

Question 6

False Imprisonment - Time

Answer 6

The length of time of the confinement or restraint is immaterial, exception to determine the extent of damages.

Question 7

False Imprisonment - Damages

Answer 7

Not necessary to prove actual damages.

Punitive damages may be imposed in appropriate cases