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.
Gabriels is a hamlet in the Town of Brighton in Franklin County, New York inside the Adirondack Park near Paul Smiths, New York. It is the site of Camp Gabriels, a minimum security state prison. The site of Gamp Gabriels was originally built as The Gabriels Sanatorium. opened in 1897. The site was later purchased by Paul Smiths College. The site was sold to the Department of Corrections in 1982. Both the Sanatorium and the Hamlet were named for Catholic Bishop Henry Gabriels of Ogdensburg, New York. The hamlet grew up as the commercial center around a train depot serving the Adirondack Division of the New York Central line. The station existed primarily to deliver vacationers to the nearby resort at Paul Smiths, New York. In 1961, New York Central abandoned the Adirondack Division from Malone Junction to Gabriels. Today, the hamlet remains the commercial center for the town of Brighton, with a Post Office, small businesses, a Roman Catholic Church, and farms.