Class action lawsuit by citizens against swiftboat vets

[joeprogressive]

Think of the damages they caused by instilling the Bush presidency. I'm serious, if it could be proven they lied, which they did, is there any legal recourse through a class action suit beyond libel/slander?

[jasmeel]

1. Anyone know?

[joeprogressive]

2. If I stood up and said

I was there when Bush snorted cocaine and another time he asked me to drive his underage girlfriend to an abortion clinic even though it was illegal at the time, and he told me that he skipped out on his military obligations because he said he was scared and would fail the drug test.

Do you think they would come after me? Do you think the MSM would report these allegations?

[Mabus]

3. In order to bring/sign on a lawsuit

you have to have "standing". This means you have to be able to demonstrate to a court that you have been harmed.

1. Injury: The plaintiff must have suffered or imminently will suffer injury. The injury must be actual, imminent, distinct, and palpable, not abstract.
2. Causation: The injury must be fairly traceable to the defendant’s conduct.
3. Redressability: A favorable court decision must be likely to redress the injury. If you sue and win, the court can make an order that will help you.

In addition,
1. Prohibition of Third Party Standing: A party may only assert his or her own rights and cannot raise the claims of a third party who is not before the court.
2. Prohibition of Generalized Grievances: A plaintiff cannot sue if the injury is widely shared in an undifferentiated way with many people.
3. Zone of Interest Test: There are in fact two tests used by the United States Supreme Court for the Zone of Interest
a. Zone of Injury - The injury is the kind of injury that Congress expected might be addressed under the statute. Federal Election Commission v. Akins, 524 U.S. 11 (1998)
b. Zone of Interests - The party is within the zone of interest protected by the statute or constitutional provision.
http://www.answers.com/topic/standing-law

[joeprogressive]

4. Thanks for the info counselor

Good to know we have legal minds here at DU.

[Mabus]

5. Actually, due to the code of ethics

I must disclose that I am not a licensed attorney and anything I said was not meant to be construed as legal advice. I do have a juris doctorate because I am a law school graduate but I have not taken the bar. Instead, I do legal research so I do have to keep up on stuff. I make this disclosure because I may want to take the bar in the future and I cannot have mislead anyone into thinking that I am already a member of the bar. You're comment, referring to me as a counselor, is what has prompted this disclosure.

[joeprogressive]

6. spoken like a true lawyer :)

n/t