JIM LEHRER: Now, the differences between civil and criminal court cases. It’s relevant because of a civil court hearing that began today in Santa Monica, California, concerning O.J. Simpson. The former football star was acquitted last month in criminal court on charges he murdered his ex-wife and her friend. Stuart Taylor is here to explain the differences in the two trials. He’s a senior writer at "American Lawyer" and "Legal Times" and a regular on this program. Stuart, welcome.

STUART TAYLOR: Nice to be here.

JIM LEHRER: Set the situation for us in this O.J. matter, the civil court case. What, who brought it? What do they want?

MR. TAYLOR: The families of the two murder victims here of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman are suing and in essence, they’re suing for money, which is the only thing they can sue for, but Mr. Goldman, at least, Frederick Goldman, the father of that victim, has made it clear that his real objective is to render O.J. Simpson penniless, if he can, not so much to make himself rich.

JIM LEHRER: Why does the double jeopardy thing not apply in this matter? The man’s already been acquitted of murder. Why can this be allowed?

MR. TAYLOR: Double jeopardy only applies to criminal prosecutions. The historic purpose of it was to prevent the government from coming back at you again and again after you get acquitted. In a civil case, there’s a different standard of proof. For example, there are a lot of differences, and the purpose is to enable the victims of a civil wrong to get compensation.

JIM LEHRER: So they are essentially suggesting or charging in a civil way that O.J. Simpson did, in fact, murder these two folks. Now what do they–how do they have to prove it? You say there’s a different burden of proof or a different element of proof. What’s the difference?