Corps of Engineers Case Analysis, Essay Example

The potential plaintiffs

The plaintiffs are the people in the Houston Street area, and the condo owners.

List at least one theory on which plaintiffs could sue and explain how the facts fit the theory: Include remedies the plaintiff should request. If the plaintiff pursues a lawsuit in the area of negligence and due care they could seek compensation for the fire that occurred. Negligence can be legally defined as the failure to exercise reasonable care to avoid injury. Due care is individuals responsibility to exercise due care when they create risk. In this case, it the fires that were continually occurring on the beach that were not addressed by the numerous letters, calls and concern. The fire occurred as a result of Corps property inaction. Because the fire that occurred in the three condos can be traced back to the parties on the beach, there is no question as to the cause. Since this has been addressed on the local, state, and federal level, the necessary steps had been taken to prevent this on the plaintiff’s level.

List the potential defendants

S.C. Senators, S.C. Congressmen, the Corps Engineers, Clemson University Police, Clemson Police, Pickens County Sheriff’s Department, and the Clemson students.

List the defenses that the defendants may wish to assert and explain how the facts fit the theory

The defenses that the defendant may choose to use are that there was no personal injury, just property and one kitten. The Corps of Engineers will probably argue that the beach was public property and they had no liability to monitor it. The request was sent to close the beach at a specific time, and they ignored it. They will claim that it was not a reasonable option to close the beach access for everyone due to a few parties that had gotten out of hand. The police and sheriff will not be able to utilize the same defense. They will probably state they exercised the necessary follow up to complaints when they knew there were parties and fires going on. This The Congressmen and Senator will probably argue they sent the concerns to the necessary parties to investigate and address. The students will probably deny their involvement all together. The Clemson University Police will deny their jurisdiction; this is on a public beach, not on Clemson University campus.

 Give a short analysis concerning who will most likely win and why on each of the issues

Under the negligence rule the defendants will be held liable only if they exercise precautions under the necessary levels determined by the courts. The Senators, Congressmen, Corps Engineers, Clemson University Police, Clemson Police, Pickens County Sheriff’s Department has been asked multiple times to address this situation before a fire occurred, the request were ignored by every party. This fire was preventable if they had addressed the situation before it got out of hand. The students would have to be identified in order to be held liable for the fire, but if the involved parties cannot be determined, they cannot hold the entire student body responsible. The plaintiff has the proof of the calls, the letters, and the attempts to address this potential liability that was going on in their back yards. If signs were posted and the gates were locked after a certain time, there would not be access to the beach. Patrolling and monitoring the area would not be as necessary because the gates would limit the access. The negligence was clearly shown, and the defendants failed to operate with due care, leaving them liable for the damage that occurred as a result.