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.
Meacham is an unincorporated community in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. It is located on the old alignment of U.S. Route 30 off Interstate 84, in the Umatilla National Forest, near Emigrant Springs State Heritage Area and the route of the Oregon Trail. It is part of the Pendleton–Hermiston Micropolitan Statistical Area. Meacham was a station on the Union Pacific Railroad, near the summit of the Blue Mountains. Major Henry A. G. Lee established a troop encampment, called Lee's Encampment, there in 1844. Meacham was named for Harvey J. and Alfred B. Meacham, who operated Meacham Station, a stage station, in the 1860s and '70s. The first post office in the locality, established in 1862, was named "Encampment". The name was changed to "Meacham" in 1890. President Warren G. Harding gave a speech in Meacham on July 4, 1923 commemorating the Oregon Trail. At the time his wife was presented with a Pendleton blanket shawl in a design that became popular as the "Harding design". It was widely reported Meacham set the state record for lowest recorded temperature in February 1933 at −52 °F (−46.7 °C). Seneca, in Grant County, however, was colder at −54 °F (−47.8 °C).