Which of the following describes public nuisance?

• A. Public nuisance requires peculiar harm to the plaintiff.
• B. Public nuisance is always private.
• C. Public nuisance requires the plaintiff to suffer only economic damages.
• D. Public nuisance can be established by personal injury.

Answer: (A)

Public nuisance is about an unreasonable interference with a right that the public shares. A private plaintiff can sue for a public nuisance only if they have suffered special or peculiar injury that goes beyond what the general public experiences. That requirement, not just any harm, is what links the plaintiff’s claim to a nuisance affecting the community while still recognizing individual standing.

So the statement that public nuisance requires peculiar (special) harm to the plaintiff best captures this standing rule: the nuisance affects the public, and a private plaintiff must show a harm that is unique to them beyond the public at large.

The other ideas don’t fit because public nuisance is not always private; it involves public rights, not exclusively private harm. The damages aren’t limited to economic losses, since the nuisance can threaten health, safety, or public welfare. And personal injury alone doesn’t establish a public nuisance unless it also reflects interference with a public right or special injury beyond what the public suffers.