Columbia University Students Sue Pro-Palestinian Protestors

WASHINGTON - Aug. 19, 2024 - PRLog -- Several Columbia University students have filed a major lawsuit against individuals and organizations which organized a pro-Palestinian encampment on its campus last semester.

The suit charges that their illegal actions went far beyond the bound of legitimate and protected protest activities.

The litigants are seeking more than $30 million for damages, and the lawsuit could open the door and provide a blueprint for similar civil actions at other universities, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf, who along with others both predicted and encouraged just such legal actions.

Here's what he wrote in June.

This demonstrates once again that the criminal justice system may do little in many major cities to discourage students from committing crimes in order to advance a cause if there is to be no punishment, argues Banzhaf, who says that most of the focus on returning campuses to normalcy after similar riots across the country have focused on ineffective criminal justice systems. But there's a better alternative.

Professor Banzhaf - who has been called a "King of Class Action Law Suits," "a Driving Force Behind the Lawsuits That Have Cost Tobacco Companies Billions of Dollars," and "The Law Professor Who Masterminded Litigation Against the Tobacco Industry," points out than even one individual student or faculty member harmed by illegal actions by protestors can bring a class action lawsuit against each and every one of the criminal protestors who can be identified (e.g. by cell phone or video camera recordings, arrest records, etc.).

In addition to the serious financial and other burdens of having to hire lawyers to defend against such suits, and the impact on their future credit ratings, each protestor could be found legally liable for the entire amount of all the damages to all of the thousands of class action plaintiffs under the well-established legal doctrine of joint and several liability, says the law professor, who promoted such lawsuits against the January 6th rioters.
Class action lawsuits against Capitol rioters could deter future attacks *** A swaggering law professor offers a novel solution to punish the Capitol insurrectionists: hit them in the wallet (https://www.wusa9.com/article/features/producers-picks/la...)

Indeed, it's a legal tactic even the Wall Street Journal (as well as others) has recommended, even for far less serious crimes such as simply temporarily blocking traffic:
Tort Law vs. the Anti-Israel Protesters (https://www.wsj.com/articles/protesters-israel-hamas-tort...) * * *  If DAs won't prosecute, victims can sue for false imprisonment (https://www.wsj.com/articles/protesters-israel-hamas-tort-law-false-imprisonment-lawsuit-a03f2996?mod=hp_opin_pos_1)

Banzhaf notes that his prior articles and other legal analysis inspired civil lawsuits against "cause" lawbreakers, and that similar suits have sometimes led to very large damage awards which shocked the criminal protestors.
Leaders Of Illegal Demonstrations Can Now Be Sued For Damages (https://www.valuewalk.com/leaders-illegal-demonstrations-sued-damages/)

http://banzhaf.net/   jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com   @profbanzhaf