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.
Scott City is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was 4,591 at the 2000 census. The Scott County portion of Scott City (the majority) is part of the Sikeston Micropolitan Statistical Area, while the Cape Girardeau County portion is part of the Cape Girardeau–Jackson, MO-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. In December 1848, a cholera epidemic was brought to New Orleans by emigrant ships. Within a few weeks it was carried to all the principal cities on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Six of the victims were Irish monks headed to a monastery near Dubuque, Iowa. These monks were buried a few hundred yards northwest of the Thebes-Scott City railroad bridge.