Decriminalization
The amount of money which a plaintiff (the person suing) may be awarded in a lawsuit. there are many types of damages. special damages are those which actually were caused by the injury and include medical and hospital bills, ambulance charges, loss of wages, property repair or replacement costs or loss of money due on a contract. the second basic area of damages are general damages, which are presumed to be a result of the other party’s actions, but are subjective both in nature and determination of value of damages. these include pain and suffering, future problems and crippling effect of an injury, loss of ability to perform various acts, shortening of life span, mental anguish, loss of companionship, loss of reputation (in a libel suit, for example), humiliation from scars, loss of anticipated business and other harm. the third major form of damage is exemplary (or punitive) damages, which combines punishment and the setting of public example. exemplary damages may be awarded when the defendant acted in a malicious, violent, oppressive, fraudulent, wanton or grossly reckless way in causing the special and general damages to the plaintiff. on occasion punitive damages can be greater than the actual damages, as, for example, in a sexual harassment case or fraudulent schemes. although often asked for, they are seldom awarded. nominal damages are those given when the actual harm is minor and an award is warranted under the circumstances. the most famous case was when winston churchill was awarded a shilling (about 25 cents) against author louis adamic, who had written that the british prime minister had been drunk at a dinner at the white house. liquidated damages are those pre-set by the parties in a contract to be awarded in case one party defaults as in breach of contract.
