Maniaci v. Marquette University
Supreme Court of Wisconsin
184 N.W.2d 168 (Wis. 1971)
Freshman Saralee Maniaci (plaintiff), unhappy at Marquette University (defendant), bought a train ticket home and began packing; after administrators Cannon and Watson (defendants) failed to convince her to stay and couldn't reach her father, a university doctor suggested institutionalizing her for mental evaluation, and Cannon and Watson filed an Application for Temporary Custody under a Wisconsin statute permitting emergency detention of irresponsible, dangerous individuals, leading police to take Maniaci to a hospital's mental ward. She was released as soon as her father was finally reached, and she sued for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution; the trial court dismissed the malicious-prosecution claim but found for Maniaci on false imprisonment, and both sides appealed.
Whether a defendant is liable for abuse of process when using a legal process, criminal or civil, against another to accomplish a purpose for which the process is not designed.