^Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 sets forth the basic threshold and certification requirements for standing as a plaintiff in federal court (where most class actions are heard): (1) class is comprised of so many that joinder is not practicable; (2) common questions of law or fact common to the class; (3) the claims or defenses of the class representatives are typical of those comprising the class; and (4) the class representatives will adequately protect the interests of the class. To certify a class, a court must also find that: (1) that prosecution of separate actions risks inconsistent adjudications; (2) that defendants have acted or refused to act on grounds generally applicable to the class; or (3) that there are common questions of law or fact that predominate over any individual class member’s questions and that a class action is superior to other methods of adjudication.
You’ll need to bring in a criminal law attorney to enlighten us on whether these tests can be met in a case like this. The rapes are all different, of course, but the common complaint would be Baylor’s institutional negligence. Are there enough people in the class to satisfy the numerosity requirement? I don’t know.