The tort of false imprisonment is the unlawful restraint of the plaintiff against his or her will, without the color of authority. The essence of a cause of action for false imprisonment is the unlawful detention of the plaintiff and the deprivation of his or her liberty. The plaintiff need not show that force was used in the detention nor that the plaintiff made an oral protest to prove that the detention was against his or her will. To constitute an action for false imprisonment, the plaintiff must prove:

The defendant's action was intentional;
The defendant caused the restraint;
The restraint was complete; and
The restraint was against the plaintiff's will.

To be liable for a cause of action of false imprisonment, the defendant must either intend to cause the confinement or have knowledge that the confinement was substantially certain to result from his or her actions. It is not necessary, however, to show that the defendant was driven by malicious motives or that the defendant was the party who previously took the plaintiff into custody. Liability may be imposed on a person for procuring a restraint, without legal authorization, through the agency of peace officers or others. However, false imprisonment does not become a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment's protection against deprivations of liberty merely because the defendant is a state official. On the other hand, a false imprisonment claim falls within the rights protected by the Fourth Amendment's guarantee against unreasonable seizures and the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee against deprivations of liberty without due process of law. A West Palm Beach intentional torts lawyer will also advice a plaintiff that Florida courts equate the torts of false imprisonment and false arrest, that is, they are essentially just different labels for the same cause of action. The showing for false arrest and false imprisonment is basically the same, in procuring the arrest the defendant exercised unlawful restraint and detained the plaintiff against his or her will.

If you believe that you have a cause of action for false imprisonment call the experienced West Palm Beach intentional torts lawyers of Sharmin & Sharmin P.A. at 1-800-74-TRIAL.