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.
Ramona is a town in Washington County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 564 at the 2000 census. The town began as Bon-Ton, but changed its name to Ramona in 1899 in honor of the Helen Hunt Jackson novel of the same name. The town is one of four communities that makes up the consolidated Caney Valley School District. Ramona was an oil town and was also a stop for the Santa Fe railroad. When the oil dried up, there was no other industry to support Ramona, so the town began to die out. Very little business remains in the town, aside from a garage, a bank, a medical clinic, a small grocery, and sundry other small businesses. For 30 years the town was under the jurisdiction of the Washington County Sheriff's Office after the police department disbanded and the former Chief of Police was sentenced to prison. Under the leadership of the former mayor, the late Roman Ward, the police department was reinstated, the water lines were repaired/replaced, and a grant was accepted from the Cherokee Nation to repave the streets. The town also supplies natural gas service to the Wal-Mart distribution center 5 miles north of town.