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.
Atchison is a city situated along the Missouri River in the eastern part of Atchison County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States. The population was 10,232 at the 2000 census, and it was estimated to be 10,154 in the year 2006. It is the county seat and most populous city of Atchison County. The city is named in honor of David Rice Atchison, United States senator from Missouri, and was the original eastern terminus of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. Atchison was the birthplace of aviatrix Amelia Earhart: the Amelia Earhart Festival held each July annually attracts an estimated 30,000–50,000 people. The festival includes a downtown craft fair, an antique airplane fly-in and airshow, and one of the largest fireworks displays in the Midwest, which takes place over the Missouri River. Atchison is also the home of Benedictine College, a small Catholic liberal-arts college. Atchison is often called one of the most haunted places in America, due to the city's ghost-story heritage, featured in the 1997 book, "Haunted Kansas," written by Lisa Hefner Heitz, and published by University Press of Kansas.