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.
Nine Mile Falls is an unincorporated community in Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is located 9 miles (or 16 miles downstream on the winding river) from downtown Spokane, at the location of the now non-existent falls on the Spokane River. The Nine Mile Falls Dam was built by Spokane & Inland Empire Railroad on the site of the falls in 1908. Washington Water Power (now Avista) purchased the site in 1925. The Spokane River and the Little Spokane River converge at Nine Mile Falls to help create Long Lake. There is still some dispute as to whether the lake's name should be Long Lake or Lake Spokane, but residents of Nine Mile Falls stand by the Long Lake name. Nine Mile Falls is also the site of the historic Spokane House trading post, established in 1810. Spokane House was one of the first white settlements in the area. The west head of the Spokane River Centennial Trail is at Sontag Park in Nine Mile Falls. Nine Miles Falls was the location of the book, The Fortunes of Indigo Skye, although the author placed it in the wrong part of Washington. The community offers four schools: two elementary schools, one middle school and a high school. Both Lakeside High school and Lakeside Middle school are home to the Eagles. Lake Spokane Elementary and Nine Mile Falls Elementary are elementary schools in the community.