Ellingburg v. United States · ¶52

Private wrongs, in contrast, were injuries to individuals in their private capacity. An action inficted a private wrong insofar as it infringed “the private or civil rights belonging to individuals, considered as individuals.” 3 Blackstone 2. For example, a dispute with a fellow citizen over a land claim or a failure to pay a debt concerned a private wrong. “[I]f I detain a field from another man, to which the law has given him a right, this is a civil injury, and not a crime,” Blackstone explained, because “only the right of an individual is concerned, and it is immaterial to the public, which of us is in possession of the land.” 4 Blackstone 5. Private wrongs were redressable by the individuals whose rights were violated, not the sovereign.

preliminary print (page proof)
Source edition
Passage preview. Read in context for the complete text, notes and references.