Bifalgorithm post · Property · Property Rules and Liability Rules: Practice
Permanent Damages
Permanent Damages (Property · Property Rules and Liability Rules: Practice) — "The lower courts awarded damages for the amounts incurred up to trial but denied…
Ideas in this flowchart
- Remedy for a permanent and unabatable nuisance
- The lower courts awarded damages incurred through trial.
- They denied an injunction against the defendant’s operations.
- The plaintiffs would otherwise need successive actions as further harm occurred.
- Special Term determined the permanent damage attributable to each plaintiff.
- The parties did not stipulate to payment and acceptance of that amount as a settlement.
- Literal application of the established rule would have closed the plant immediately.
- The court chose to avoid this immediately drastic remedy.
- The court granted an injunction conditioned on payment of permanent damages.
- Payment of permanent damages would redress present and future economic loss to the plaintiffs’ properties.
- A short abatement period would not assure technical improvements.
- Such an abatement period could lead to later applications for extensions.
- The judgment would fully redress the particular parties.
- Public health and other public agencies would remain free to seek proper relief.
- The risk of permanent-damage liability could encourage research into improved techniques.
- For a permanent and unabatable nuisance, a single recovery may include all past and future damage.
