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.
Hutchinson is a village located in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and is part of Sewickley Township, Pennsylvania. As of the 2000 census, Hutchinson had 99 single family homes, and a total population of 322. Although only about the size of a small subdivision, Hutchinson has its own post office and zip code: 15640. Hutchinson was built as a coal mining town in 1924, and is geographically located above the Hutchinson Mine. The community was named for S. P. Hutchinson, president of Westmoreland Coal Company at the time the town was built. Because it was built much later than nearby "coal patch" towns, Hutchinson was distinguished by an unusually spacious layout, in which houses had larger yards than one would find in older coal mining communities.