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M E M O R A N D U M
TO: Environmental and Land Use Law Section FROM: Ad Hoc Committee on Jury Instructions for Civil Environmental and Land Use Cases: Melissa P. Anderson DATE: August 15, 1996
The Ad Hoc Committee on Jury Instructions for Civil Environmental and Land Use Cases has drafted five proposed jury instructions for review and approval by the Executive Council. Committee members were initially asked to review their own files and to contact members of their local Bar to obtain copies of jury instructions in environmental cases. Copies of the sample instructions, along with excerpts from various environmental law treatises, were circulated among the group. The Committee then agreed upon a core group of six jury instructions: private nuisance, public nuisance, trespass, strict liability, permanence of injury, and measure of damages. Individual committee members volunteered to draft a proposed instruction on a subject, and the draft instructions were circulated among the group for comment and revision. Five instructions were ultimately agreed upon (the draft instructions for permanence of injury and measure of damages were merged into one instruction), and have been formatted consistent with the Florida Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases. The Committee was frustrated by a lack of jury instructions used in civil environmental cases. Few law firms (and county attorney offices) have actually tried a nuisance case before a jury. In addition, most environmental litigation is limited to enforcement actions by federal, state, or local agencies, or to cost recovery actions under CERCLA, both of which are equitable in nature and non-jury. Accordingly, it is the recommendation of the Committee that the Executive Council review and revise the proposed instructions, and circulate them among members of the ELULS for peer review. The proposed instructions along with case citations are as follows.
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