WASHINGTON - s4story -- In addition to whatever action the Justice Department [DoJ] may take against the trespassers who disrupted a Sunday service at the Cities Church in Minneapolis, any worshiper in attendance can bring a civil action against all of the those involved, says public interest law professor John Banzhaf.

Such a class action lawsuit could be important for at least two reasons, says the attorney who has been called a "King of Class Action Lawsuits."

The first is that if DoJ declines to bring criminal actions against each individual who can be identified, or refuses to continue vigorously prosecuting them, a civil lawsuit would be the only way to punish the guilty and discourage similar illegal activities in the future.

The second is that a lawsuit would provide the plaintiff's attorney with powerful legal tools for immediately beginning to gather facts and preserving documents (including emails), as well as preventing the possible destruction of other evidence, explains Banzhaf.

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This pre-trial discovery can include identifying all of the individuals involved, as well as any entity which knowingly funded the disruption, he notes.

Even before a civil lawsuit can be filed, a good attorney will send to each person, organization, or other entity possibly involved a letter entitled "Formal Notice to Retain and Preserve Evidence" which then legally obligates each recipient to keep and preserve all possible evidence so that emails and/or other documents are not "inadvertently" or "routinely" destroyed.

If the letter also warns each recipient that, under the well established legal doctrine of "joint and several liability," he or it can be held legally liable for all of the harm caused - even if it was largely caused by others - such a warning would serve to strongly discourage any similar illegal activity in the future, notes Banzhaf, who explains that very large judgments have been entered in other situations of illegal protests.

All it takes is one single parishioner, plus a lawyer who wants to do well by doing good, to bring a multi-million dollar class action lawsuit, and even just being named as a defendant in a lawsuit can have devastating consequences, suggests the activist law professor.

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