Civil plaintiffs need only show a claim is more likely true than not.

Evidence

If the Blue Bus case were a criminal trial, where the state has to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, Mr. Smith obviously could not hope to win. There is, after all, at least a 20 percent chance that the Blue Bus Company is not guilty. But this is a civil action, where the aim is to resolve disputes in a just manner, and in civil cases the plaintiff’s burden of proof is not as onerous. Mr. Smith has to prove only that it is “more likely true than not”—a standard often taken to mean by 51 percent or better—that the Blue Bus Company caused the accident. By that standard, it would seem that Mr. Smith should win his case. — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action, 1301

Categorization

• DEFINE: Precisely explains the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard (51 percent or better) versus criminal reasonable doubt, anchored in a concrete hypothetical.
• XREF: Connects to other work on how probabilistic standards get translated into legal and institutional decision rules. — connects to: The criminal defense needs only create reasonable doubt, not prove its own facts. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 853; Preponderance burden forces civil defendants to present fuller cases than criminal defendants. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 856; Litigation needs sufficiency, not truth, to proceed — , Harr Jonathan - A Civil Action , 976 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Most civil cases are settled rather than adjudicated through trial #qualifies (0.75) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1045