Black-letter propositions
- 01
False imprisonment requires intentional confinement within boundaries, no reasonable escape, and awareness or harm.
- 02
IIED requires extreme and outrageous conduct intentionally or recklessly causing severe emotional distress, with special sensitivity and relationship factors.
- 03
Trespass to land requires intentional physical invasion of another's possessory interest; mistake is no defense to entry.
- 04
Trespass to chattels requires interference causing actual damage, dispossession, or loss of use.
- 05
Conversion is serious dominion justifying payment of full value, assessed by extent, duration, harm, and bad faith.
Use this attack sequence under time
Frame the issue
Identify protected interest and possession.
Resolve the next checkpoint
For confinement, map boundaries and escape.
Resolve the next checkpoint
For IIED, assess conduct, culpability, severity, and causation.
Finish the conclusion
For chattels, distinguish actual damage from serious dominion.
Common wrong turns
- Mere insults usually are not IIED absent aggravating circumstances.
- A land trespasser need not know the land belongs to another.
- Conversion remedy resembles a forced sale and should be reserved for serious interference.
Worked example
A mechanic refuses to return a customer's car for months despite payment and repeatedly uses it personally.
The lengthy intentional dominion is serious enough for conversion, allowing recovery of full value, rather than only trespass-to-chattels damages.
Practice this topic
Confinement and emotional distress
Cornell says false imprisonment occurs when one person intentionally restrains another in a way that confines them within a bounded area without consent or legal authority. The plaintiff must show the defendant acted willfully, intended to confine without consent or lawful authority, caused the confinement, and that the plaintiff was aware of it. Restraint can be by physical barriers.
Cornell describes intentional infliction of emotional distress as acting intentionally or recklessly in a way that causes severe emotional distress. The prima facie case is that the defendant acts, the conduct is outrageous, the defendant acts purposely or recklessly, and the conduct causes distress so severe it could be expected to adversely affect mental health. It notes First Amendment limits on liability.
Trespass and personal property
Trespass to land is an intentional tort. Cornell says physical invasion is required, so light or smell does not count, and the intent required is intent to enter or remain on the land, not intent to trespass. The owner need not prove actual damages to recover nominal damages. Conversion is taking the chattel property of another with intent to deprive them of it, does not apply to real property, and does not depend on knowledge of ownership. The standard remedy is return of the property or its fair market value.
Trespass to chattels is intentional interference with the possession or use of personal property that results in harm.
Cornell points out that conversion turns on the objective to possess or exert property rights over the chattel, not on the actor's knowledge of ownership. Its example is a person who picks up a necklace believing it abandoned and intends to resell it, who has still converted it. Apply the same approach to the intent element in trespass to land.
Frequently asked questions
What is the controlling rule for confinement, emotional distress, and property torts?+
Intentional tort classification follows the protected interest and seriousness of interference, not a generic label of wrongdoing.
What are the elements of false imprisonment?+
The defendant acted willfully, intended to confine without consent or lawful authority, caused confinement, and the plaintiff was aware of it, according to Cornell.
What is required for IIED?+
Outrageous conduct done purposely or recklessly that causes emotional distress so severe it could be expected to adversely affect mental health.
What intent does trespass to land require?+
Intent to enter or remain on the land, regardless of whether the trespasser knows the land is owned by others, according to Cornell.
Can conversion apply to real property?+
No. Conversion is an intentional tort involving the chattel property of another, and it does not apply to real property.
What is the remedy for conversion?+
Return of the property or damages for its fair market value, per Cornell's summary, which measures recovery by the value of what was taken.