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.
Mead is a small unincorporated farming community north of Spokane in Spokane County, Washington, United States. This rural area is not tracked by the United States Census Bureau. In 1900 Mead was the second stop on the Spokane Falls & Northern Railway. The community included the Cushing & Bryant general store, a blacksmith shop, a public school with approximately 60 students, a Methodist Episcopal church, and a Sunday school. At the time the post office was located in the Cushing & Bryant store. The Mead School District, which is named after the town of Mead, as their very first school was built there, enrolls approximately 9000 students in two high schools, two middle schools, and eight elementary schools. The district also has an alternative high school. Mead is home to the computer game development firm, Cyan Worlds, makers of Myst and Riven. The Kaiser Aluminum Mead Works, which operated as a leading area employer from 1942 until curtailment in 2001, is nearby.