Nuisance

Question 1

Nuisance - General Points

Answer 1

• maxim of sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas (use your own property in such a way that you don’t injure other people’s property)
• protects use and enjoyment
• calls for balancing, + must show harm (vs. strict liability for trespass)

Question 2

Trespass vs. Nuisance

Answer 2

• largely governed by tangibility requirement in modern times
• also idea that trespass is reserved for situations of substantial harm that constructively deny possession to the plaintiff
• other potential approach - visible to the naked eye for trespass (vs. smoke, odors, etc.)

Question 3

Adams v. Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co. - Core Significance

Answer 3

• sets out various approaches to trespass vs. nuisance divide + adopts traditional position

Question 4

Adams v. Cleveland Cliffs Iron Co. - Facts and Procedural Posture

Answer 4

• pls sued mine owners over vibration, dust + noise from mining operation
• jury instruction allowed trespass liability for any invasion, including those from vibrations, dust + noise -> jury unable to agree on nuisance, but gave damages on trespass

Question 5

Adams v. Cleveland Cliffs - Decision + Reasoning

Answer 5

• court acknowledges that some jurisdictions have been collapsing trespass + nuisance a bit, but ultimately says trespass doesn’t cover airborne particular, noise or vibrations -> these are all nuisance

Question 6

Nuisance - Second Restatement of Torts

Answer 6

Nuisance = substantial, nontrespassory interference w/ use and enjoyment of land cause either by:

• negligent, reckless, or ultrahazardous activities OR
• intentional and unreasonable activities

Question 7

Intentional - Definition for Nuisance Under Second Restatement

Answer 7

Intentional = either:

• acting for the purpose of causing the invasion OR
• knowing (or reasonably being supposed to know) the invasion is the result OR
• knowing that it is substantially certain to result

Question 8

Campbell v. Seaman

Answer 8

• nuisance case - plaintiff’s trees win out over defendant’s brickmaking
• court says law of nuisance prohibits unreasonable nuisances
• Prof says they use “imprecise invocation of the balancing of harms or equities”

Question 9

Factors Considered by the Campbell v. Seaman Court

Answer 9

• sic utere maxim
• locality rule
• standard of reasonable use
• threshold of material harm
• nuisance per se
• injunctive relief for irreparable harm
• coming to the nuisance
• prescription

Question 10

Public Nuisance

Answer 10

• unreasonable interference w/ a right common to the public as a whole
• classic example = blocking a public highway or navigable waterway
• public nuisance actions usually brought by public authorities, + relief sought usually injunction
• in order for private parties to bring public nuisance actions, need to show that they’ve suffered “special injury” from the interference w/ the public right

Question 11

General Factors That May Impact Nuisance

Answer 11

• invasiveness (aesthetic blight usually not nuisance)
• nature of the locality (is the use common there?)
• temporal priority (courts tend to be more skeptical of newer uses, but also tend to reject “coming to the nuisance”)