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.
Pellston is a village in Emmet County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 771 at the 2000 census. The village is the home of Pellston Regional Airport. Its motto is "Icebox of the Nation"; Pellston recorded the state of Michigan's record low temperature, a frigid -53°F. in 1933, and every winter is regularly called out in national weather reports, along with towns like Big Piney, Wyoming, Fraser, Colorado and International Falls, Minnesota, as one of the coldest spots in the nation. The village is on the boundary between Maple River Township and McKinley Township on United States Highway 31. Interstate 75 is about 10 miles (16.1 km) east of Pellston. Mackinaw City and the Mackinac Bridge is approximately 18 miles (29 km) north and Petoskey is about 20 miles (32.2 km) southwest of the village. The University of Michigan Biological Station is on nearby Douglas Lake.