WASHINGTON - s4story -- Students who engaged in criminal protests at their universities are finally facing felony prosecutions at more than a dozen institutions after their universities failed to effectively discipline them, and mere misdemeanor charges haven't dissuaded even more illegal protests at many campuses.

Current or former students at Stanford, University of Michigan, Case Western Reserve University, University of Rochester, and other major universities now face more than a year in prison for crimes including felony vandalism, resisting arrest, and felony conspiracy to trespass; which is much more serious than ordinary misdemeanor trespass, notes public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

In addition to fines and prison time, those found guilty may also be forced as part of their sentences to pay for the extensive damage which they caused, says Banzhaf, who is encouraging universities to bring their own civil actions against criminal demonstrators to obtain compensation for the extensive damages their illegal activities caused.  See, e.g., Indiana U. Officials Won't Say Who Will Pay for $250,000+ Pro-Palestinian Protest Damage (https://www.thecollegefix.com/indiana-u-officials-wont-say-who-will-pay-for-250000-pro-palestinian-protest-damage/)

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If named as a defendant in such a civil action brought by a university - or in some cases by victims of the crimes themselves - it is not necessary to show which student caused which damages.

Under the well established doctrine of "joint and several liability," each individual can be found liable for the entire amount of the damages, even if most or even all of it was caused by others engaged in criminal protest activities.

At one university, students were charged with felony criminal mischief for putting up "Wanted" posters with the names and pictures of campus leaders.

Similarly, a student group recently plastered the door of a Jewish professor with eviction notices stating "you are hereby evicted from the premises of the George Washington University." Jewish Professor Threatened by Students for Justice in Palestine at George Washington University (https://www.algemeiner.com/2025/02/25/jewish-professor-threatened-students-justice-palestine-george-washington-university/)

Moreover, during last spring's illegal occupation of the campus, students openly called for the beheading of GWU's board of trustees and for the school's president.  See: GWU Anarchists Call for Beheadings of School Administrators amid Anti-Israel Encampment (https://www.foxnews.com/us/gwu-anarchists-call-...)

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But, despite the call for beheading officials - and numerous criminal activities including malicious damage to property and illegal trespass during the illegal campus occupation - not a single GWU student was expelled, and only one was even suspended.

Banzhaf suggests that the recent crackdown on illegal campus demonstrations by the Trump administration will encourage additional prosecutors to charge those who engaged in criminal conduct with felonies where appropriate, and both universities, and individuals on campus who were victims of the crimes, to bring civil actions - both to obtain deserved monetary compensation, and to deter additional criminal conduct.

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