Civil law, as opposed to criminal law, is the branch of law dealing with disputes between individuals and/or organizations, in which compensation may be awarded to the victim. For instance, if a car crash victim claims damages against the driver for loss or injury sustained in an accident, this will be a civil law case. Civil law courts provide a forum for deciding disputes involving torts (such as accidents, negligence, and libel), contract disputes, the probate of wills, trusts, property disputes, administrative law, commercial law, and any other private matters that involve private parties or organizations including government departments. The objectives of civil law are different from other types of law. In civil law there is the attempt to right a wrong, honor an agreement, or settle a dispute. If there is a victim, they get compensation, and the person who is the cause of the wrong pays, this being a civilized form of, or legal alternative to, revenge.
Fontana is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the heart of the Inland Empire region of southern California, the City of Fontana is a fast-growing community known for its varied and colorful history, and for some of its important new local landmarks. Originally a rural town known for an abundance of chicken ranches, hog farms, and citrus and walnut orchards, over the past century Fontana has developed rapidly into a major commuter suburb for Los Angeles and other nearby cities, as well as a strategic regional hub of the trucking industry. This is arguably the result of Fontana's location at the meetingplace of several major regional thoroughfares: Interstate 10 and State Route 210 both transect the city from east to west, and Interstate 15 passes diagonally through the northwestern part of the city. These major highways have given rise to dozens of distribution centers in the city's industrial areas, where goods are brought by road and rail from the seaports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, then shipped throughout North America. While Fontana is within driving distance of several of the mountain resorts, beaches, lakes and desert areas of Southern California, the city is also becoming a destination in its own right. It is home to several newly built landmarks, such as the largest of the San Bernardino County system libraries, a renovated historic theater, a huge new municipal park, and the Auto Club Speedway, a NASCAR racetrack located on the site of the historic Kaiser Steel Mill. Fontana is also home to the Fontana Days Half Marathon and 5K run. This race is on record as the fastest half marathon course in the world. The U.S. federal Census estimates for 2006 placed Fontana's population at 170,099, but the California State Department of Finance estimated the fast-growing city's 2009 population at 189,021. This growth was primarily the result of the city's campaign to annex numerous unincorporated San Bernardino County "island" areas within its Sphere of Influence, as well as with continued suburban growth.