zlacker

One thing I've never understood is how ACLU has legal standing to file many of its suits.

I'm assuming that ACLU isn't claiming to be the injured party in suits like this current one. Are they acting as attorneys for one of the alleged victims?

>>Doofus+(OP)
Yes. Read the filing here: https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/goyette-v-city-minneapol...

>>Doofus+(OP)
In this case it is a class-action lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of the journalists. The lead plaintiff is a journalist who was shot by the police while covering a protest.

>>c0nsum+i
For anyone who doesn’t want to read the legal complaint, the named class action plaintiff (Jared Goyette) was shot in the face by the police with a “less lethal” round[0] and nearly permanently lost his eyesight[1] after he had just finished reporting on a man who had been shot in the head by the police with a “less lethal” round.[2]

[0] https://twitter.com/JaredGoyette/status/1265786797650558976

[1] https://twitter.com/JaredGoyette/status/1266115234420400129

[2] https://twitter.com/JaredGoyette/status/1265779746153078793

>>oftenw+o1
Class-action lawsuits in the USA often end up being settled with little or no real action. I hope for better here but I'm not going to hold my breath on it.

>>inetkn+p9
The suit is only asking for some money and for the Court to order the state to stop breaking the law even though the state presumably believes it is not breaking the law

It's almost entirely symbolic.

>>inetkn+p9
This is because class actions are often little more than schemes to enrich attorneys.

This is not such a case and ACLU are not such attorneys.

>>inetkn+p9
When ACLU brings a lawsuit on behalf of an individual, it’s common for the government to moot the lawsuit by changing the treatment of that one person, or offering a settlement to that one person, or even deporting that person, without changing its behavior in general. A class action means the government can’t avoid the lawsuit that way.

What you’re saying is a real issue in general, but not relevant to class actions as used as a civil rights tactic by ACLU.