What constitutes contact with the plaintiff's person for battery purposes?

In the context of battery, contact for the purposes of establishing a claim can extend beyond mere physical contact with the plaintiff's body. The correct understanding hinges on the recognition that battery occurs when there is contact with anything that is closely connected to the plaintiff’s person. This includes personal items like clothing or objects the plaintiff is holding.

The law recognizes that if an individual makes contact with a person’s belongings—provided those belongings are closely associated with the person—it can constitute battery. For instance, if someone forcibly takes an item from another person's hand, that can be seen as an offensive contact under the battery tort because it indirectly affects the individual through their possession.

Emotional harm, while significant in tort law, is not a necessary element for establishing battery, which is primarily focused on the nature of the physical contact involved. Similarly, contact limited strictly to the physical body itself does not encompass scenarios where the individual’s personal effects are involved, which broadens the interpretation of battery to include these associated items. Thus, the view that anything closely connected to the plaintiff’s person is subject to claims of battery accurately captures the scope of potential claims under tort law.