Also known as: seriously harm · seriously harmed · serious harms
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A degree of bodily injury or property damage whose consequences are so grave or serious that they differ in kind, and not merely in degree, from lesser harms. A harm creating a substantial risk of fatal consequences or the permanent loss of function of an important member or organ qualifies as serious harm.
During a wildfire, Park Utilities technicians cut a gate and drove across Delta Wind's solar farm to reach damaged transmission lines. The quicker route allowed them to restore power to a nuclear reactor and nearby homes before cooling systems failed. Delta Wind later sued for the damaged panels and irrigation lines.
Officers arrived at a home and saw blood on the porch plus signs of a struggle inside. They entered without a warrant after the occupant refused consent. Inside they found a resident who had been stabbed and required immediate medical care.
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A passerby smashed the window of a parked car to pull a child from the back seat during a heatwave. The child was unconscious from heatstroke. The car owner later sued the passerby for the broken window and related damage.
A supervisor at Stonehaven Properties saw a scaffold begin to collapse while a worker was still on it. The supervisor did not order evacuation or call for help. The worker fell and suffered a spinal injury that left him permanently unable to walk.
Sierra Santos faced an attacker who lunged at her with a knife in a dark alley. She struck the attacker in the head with a heavy metal pipe, fracturing his skull. The attacker later sued Santos for battery, claiming the response exceeded necessary force.
State officials sought to medicate an inmate against his will. An independent decisionmaker determined treatment was needed to protect the prisoner and others. The inmate later challenged the action as violating his liberty interest.
Serious bodily harm differs in kind rather than degree from lesser injuries. It includes harms creating a substantial risk of death, those constituting mayhem, or those causing permanent loss of function of an important organ or member.
The exception applies when circumstances viewed objectively would lead a reasonable officer to believe someone inside needs immediate aid or faces a threat of serious harm. Visible injury, blood, and disorder can satisfy the standard even if the occupant objects.
Liability arises if a servant acting within the scope of employment faces imminent danger of serious harm known to the master or a management-level person, and the master fails to exercise reasonable care to avert the harm.
Force likely to cause serious harm is generally not privileged solely to protect property. The privilege to use such force is limited to defense of the person or to prevent serious harm to persons under the necessity doctrines.
…as "nonviolent." At the very least, respondent's burglaries and his third-offense drunken driving posed real risk of serious harm to others. It is sheer fortuity that the places respondent burglarized were unoccupied and that he killed no pedestrians while behind the wheel. What would have happened if a guard had been…