Public nuisance
Defined in 3 dictionaries — Case Law, Cyclopedic (1922), Ballentine's (1916)
Definitions from Case Law
From 37 U.S. 91 - The Mayor Recorder Aldermen and Common Council of Georgetown v. The Alexandria Canal Company and William Turnbull · 1838Most cited · 128 citing opinions
as the Potomac river is a navigable stream, a part of the jus publicum, any obstruction to its navigation would, upon the most established principles, be what is declared by law to be a public nuisance. A public nuisance being the subject to criminal jurisdiction, the ordinary and regular proceeding at law is by indictment or information, by which the nuisance may be abated; and the person who caused it may be punished. If any particular individual shall have sustained special damage from the erection of it, he may maintain a private action for such special damage; because to that extent he has suffered beyond his portion of injury, in common with the community at large.
The Cyclopedic Law Dictionary
Walter A. Shumaker and George Foster Longsdorf; ed. James C. Cahill · 1922
See "Nuisance."
Ballentine's Law Dictionary
James A. Ballentine · 1916