{"id":9672,"date":"2017-11-26T23:52:47","date_gmt":"2017-11-26T23:52:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reunitethestates.org\/?page_id=9672"},"modified":"2023-02-19T03:08:23","modified_gmt":"2023-02-19T03:08:23","slug":"penal-action","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/reunitethestates.org\/?page_id=9672","title":{"rendered":"penal action – to prove a wrongdoer violated a statute, thereby subjecting the wrongdoer to pay a fine directly to the wronged party in addition to punitive damages"},"content":{"rendered":"

penal action<\/span>:<\/span><\/strong>
\n(16c)<\/span><\/p>\n

I. A criminal prosecution.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

2. A civil proceeding In which either the state or a common informer sues to recover a penalty from a defendant who has violated a statute.\u00a0 *\u00a0 Although civil in nature, a penal action resembles a crIminal proceeding because the result of a successful action is a monetary penalty intended, like a fine, to punish the defendant.<\/strong>\u00a0 See COMMON INFORMER. [1]<\/span><\/p>\n

1. In the broad sense of the term, a criminal prosecution.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

2. A civil action in which the wrongdoer is subject to a fine or penalty payable to the wronged party, or is liable for punitive damages, i.e. damages over and above actual damages.<\/span><\/strong>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0See also\u00a0civil penalty.\u00a0<\/em>[2]<\/span><\/p>\n

1. An action founded entirely upon a statute which subjects a wrongdoer to a liability in favor fo a person wronged as a punishment for the wrongful act, without limiting such liability to the actual damages suffered.\u00a0 1 Am J2d Actions\u00a0\u00a7 42<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

In a very broad sense, inclusive of a criminal prosecution.<\/strong> [3]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Excerpt from John Salmond’s\u00a0Jurisprudence<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(Glanville L. Williams ed., 10th ed 1947):<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0“At one time it was a frequent practice, when it was desired to repress some type of conduct thought to be harmful to do so by the machinery of the civil rather than of the criminal law.\u00a0 The means so chosen was called a penal action, as being brought for the recovery of a penalty; and it might be brought, according to the wording of the particular statute creating the penal action, either by the Attorney-General on behalf of the state, or by a common informer on his own account.\u00a0 A common informer was anyone who should first sue the offender for the penalty.\u00a0 Penal actions are still possible in a few cases, and their existence renders invalid several suggested distinctions between civil wrongs and crimes.<\/span>\u201d<\/strong> [4]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Excerpt from J. W. Cecil Turner’s\u00a0Kenny’s Outlines of Criminal Law<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(16th ed. 1952):<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cFor in ‘penal actions,’ unless the statute expressly authorizes private persons to act as informers, the State alone can sue and recover the penalty; and yet there is full authority for ranking such suits by it as merely civil pro<\/span><\/span><\/strong>ceedings.<\/span>\u201d<\/strong> [5]<\/span><\/p>\n

3. A civil lawsuit by an aggrieved party seeking recovery of a statutory fine or a penalty, such as punitive damages.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>[1]<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Excerpt from J.W. Cecil Turner’s\u00a0Kenny\u2019s Outlines of Criminal Law<\/em><\/a>\u00a0(16th ed. 1952): <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201c[T]here exists a well-known class of proceedings called \u2018penal actions,\u2019 by which pecuniary penalties can be recovered \u2014 in some cases by any person who will sue for them \u2014 from the doers of various prohibited acts; these acts being thus prohibited, and visited with penalties, solely on account of their tendency to cause evil to the community at large, \u2018considered as a community.\u2019 For example, a person who, in advertising a reward for the return of lost property, adds that \u2018no questions will be asked\u2019 incurs by the Larceny Act, 1861, a penalty of \u00a350 recoverable by anyone who will sue for it.<\/span>\u201d<\/strong> [6]<\/span><\/p>\n

References:<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Disclaimer:<\/span><\/span><\/strong> All material throughout this website is pertinent to people everywhere, and is being utilized in accordance with Fair Use<\/a>.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]\u00a0Black’s Law Dictionary Deluxe Tenth Edition by Henry Campbell Black & Editor in Chief Bryan A. Garner<\/a>. ISBN: 978-0-314-62130-6<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

[2]<\/span>: Ballantine’s Law Dictionary <\/a>Legal Assistant Edition<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by Jack Ballantine\u00a0(James Arthur 1871-1949).\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Doctored<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>by\u00a0Jack G. Handler,\u00a0J.D.<\/a>\u00a0\u00a9 1994 Delmar by Thomson Learning.\u00a0 ISBN 0-8273-4874-6.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

[3]:\u00a0Ballantine\u2019s Law Dictionary\u00a0with Pronunciations
\n<\/em>Third Edition<\/a>\u00a0by James A. Ballantine\u00a0(James Arthur 1871-1949).\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Edited by William S. Anderson.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a9 1969 by THE LAWYER\u2019S CO-OPERATIVE PUBLISHING COMPANY.\u00a0 Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 68-30931<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

[4]:\u00a0John Salmond, Jurisprudence<\/em><\/a> 107 (Glanville L. Williams ed., 10th ed 1947)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

[5]:\u00a0J. W. Cecil Turner, Kenny’s Outlines of Criminal Law<\/em><\/a> 538 (16th ed. 1952).<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

[6]:\u00a0J.W. Cecil Turner, Kenny\u2019s Outlines of Criminal Law<\/em><\/a> 533-34 (16th ed. 1952).<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

******************************************<\/span><\/p>\n

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Legal Precepts Adopted (from Europe) into The U.S. Constitution<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a7 <\/span><\/strong>\u00a7<\/span><\/span><\/strong> of Law Embedded into the Constitution Pursuant to the American Revolution<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Indian Country Law<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Civil Proceedings (Torts) Self-Help<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Criminal Proceedings (Crimes) Self-Help<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Federal Rules of Procedure<\/span><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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