False Imprisonment

Any unlawful restraint of a man's liberty, whether in a place made use of for imprisonment generally, or in one used only on the particular occasion, or by words and an array of force, without bolts or bars, in any locality whatever. 2 Bish. Crim. Law, § 669; 8 N. H. 550; 9 N. H. 491; 7 Humph. (Tenn.) 43; 12 Ark. 43; 7 Q. B. 742; 6 Vt. 588; 3 Blackf. (Ind.) 46; 9 Johns. (N. Y.) 117; 1 A. K. Marsh. (Ky.) 345. The characteristic of false imprisonment is the unlawfulness of the detention. If the sued, it is not false imprisonment. 58 Wis. 276; 17 Kan. 436. FALSE JUDGMENT (havf "Lai. faleum judicium; breve de falso judicio).

In English law. A writ which lies to the courts at Westminster to reverse the judgment of some inferior court not of record., 3 Bl. Comm. 34, 406; Fitzh. Nat. Brev. 18; Finch, Law, bk. 4, c. 47.

Any unlawful restraint of a man’s liberty, whether in a place made use of for imprisonment generally, or in one used only on the particular occasion, or by words and an array of force, without bolts or bars, in any locality whatever. 1 Bish. Or. Law § 553; Webb’s Poll. Torts 259; State v. Rollins, 8 N. H. 550; Smith V. State, 7 Humphr. (Tenn.) 43; Floyd V. State, 12 Ark. 43, 64 Am. Dec. 250; 7 Q. B. 742; Wood v. Kinsman, 5 Vt. 588; Adams v. Freeman, 9 Johns. (N. Y.) 117; Webber v. Kenny, 1 A. K. Marsh. (Ky.) 345; Fotheringham v. Express Co., 36 Fed. 252, 1 L. R. A. 474; Moore v. Thompson, 92 Mich. 498, 52 N. W. 1000; Callahan v. Searles, 78 Hun 238, 28 N. Y. Supp. 904. The total, or substantially total, restraint of a man’s freedom of locomotion, without authority of law, and against his will. Big. Torts 113. Partial and conditional restraint is held not to constitute false imprisonment; Crossett v. Campbell, 122 La. 659, 48 South. 141, 20 L. R. A. (N. S.) 967, 129 Am. St Rep. 362; 7 Q. B. 742; Sullivan v. R. Co., 148 Mass. 119, 18 N. E. 678, 1 L. R. A. 513; as where the, restraint was voluntary, in that it rested with the plaintiff to terminate it by desisting from the doing of an unlawful act; Crossett v. Campbell, 122 La. 659, 48 South. 141, 20 L. R. A. (N. S.) 967, 129 Am. St. Rep. 362; but where one is restrained until he shall make certain promises; Hildebrand V. Mc Crum, 101 Ind. 61; Bonesteel v. Bonesteel, 28 Wis. 245; or statements; Mc- Nay V. Stratton, 9 IlL App. 215; or payments; Smith V. State, 7 Humph. (Tenn.) 43; it is usually held gn imprisonment. Arresting the wrong person under a warrant constitutes false imprisonment; F. Moo. 457; so if there is a misnomer in the warrant even though the person actually intendout of his bailiwick, or detains the person unduly; 4 B. & C. 596; an arrest under a void writ constitutes a false imprisonment; Deyo V. Van Valkenburgh, 5 Hill (N. Y.) 242. A writ may be void because defective in language, because the court hjad no Jurisdiction of the proceedings, or because the court had no Jurisdiction to issue the writ; Big. Torts 122; Nixon v. Reeves, 65 Minn. 159, 67 N. W. 989, 33 L. R. A. 506. The.clerk of the court who Issues a defective writ, or one not authorized by the court, is liable; and so is a Judge who orders a writ which he had no right to issue, or where he had no Jurisdiction. Both the attorney and his client may be liable if the former ordered the arrest, and even when the arrest has been ordered by a Judge, I. e. in a case where they participate in making the arrest; Big. Torts 128; or where the writ was issued by the misconduct of the attorney; id. 129. A Judge of a superior court can never be liable for an act done by him in his official capacity; [1895] 1 Q. B. 668. Otherwise of a Judge of an inferior court, if he acted beyond his Jurisdiction; 1 B. & C. 169; and it must appear that he knew or had means of knowing that he was doing so; 3 Bing. 78; a mistake of law will not protect him; 19

See Imprisonment.

Defined under False in Black's Law Dictionary.

The unlawful arrest or detention of a person without warrant, or by an illegal warrant, or 8 warrant illegally executed, and either in a ae prison or a place used temporarily for that purpose, or by force and constraint without conlinement. False imprisonment consists in the unlawful detention of the person of another, for uny length of time, whereby he is deprived of his personal liberty. Code Ga, 1882, § 2990; Pen. Code Cal. § 236. The term is also used as the name of the action which lies for this species of injury. 3 BL. Comm. 1388,

Any unlawful restraint of the person. False judgment: an Eng Ush writ issuing from one of the superior courts to correct error in a court not of record; v. Court, 39. False pretences: v. Larceny.

[L. Lat. falsum imprisonamentum.] A trespass committed against a person, by arresting and confining or imprisoning him without sufficient authority, as by doing so without some lawful warrant or process, or by executing a lawful warrant or process at an unlawful time, as on a Sunday. 3 Bl. Com. 127. 3 Steph. Com. 480. Every confinement of the person is an imprisonment, whether it be in a common prison, or in a private house, or even by forcibly detaining one in the public streets. 2 Inst. 589. No actual force is necessary to constitute a false imprisonment. If a man is restrained of his personal liberty by fear of a personal difficulty, that amounts to a false imprisonment. 7 Humphrey's (Tenn.) R. 43. See U. S. Digest and Supplement, False Imprisonment. The name of the action which lies for this species of injury. 3 Bl. Com. 138. Tomlins.

torts. It is any illegal imprisonment, without any process whatever, or under colour of process wholly illegal, without regard to any question whether any crime has been committed or a debt due. 1 Chit. Pr. 48. The remedy is, in order to be restored to liberty, by writ of habeas corpus; and to recover damages for the injury, by action of trespass vi et armis. To punish the wrong done to the public, by the false imprisonment of an individual, the offender may be indicted. 4 Bl. Com. 218, 219; 2 Burr. 993. Vide 6 Bac. Ab. 569; Dane’s Ab. Index, h. t.