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A high school cheerleader in Silsbee, Texas, is forced by a federal appeals court to cheer for her alleged rapist. It all started two years ago when a group of boys grabbed 16-year-old "H.S." at a post football game party. The victim says they dragged her into a room, locked the door, and proceeded to rape her. One of the alleged rapists is the small town's star athlete, Rakheem Bolton... Meanwhile, H.S. went back to cheering on the varsity squad. But when her rapist, Bolton, sauntered up to the foul line for a free throw, H.S. sat down and turned her back. "I didn't want to have to say his name, and I didn't want to cheer for him," the girl said. "I didn't want to encourage anything he was doing." The district superintendent, his assistant, and the school principal called her outside and demanded that she cheer for the star athlete. Either that, or go home. Fans, meanwhile, sat in the bleachers and mocked the crying girl.

Well it is Texas - high school sports is second to God down there.

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H.S. fought back and filed a lawsuit with the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, saying that her free speech rights were violated. A panel of three of the most conservative judges denied her claim. As a "mouthpiece" for the school, she had no right to refuse to cheer for her rapist, they ruled. Indeed, it was she and not the school whose rights were violated:

Okay, now before I get to this part I want to put on my fireproof suit.

Just a moment...

Okay, ready.

The court is absolutely correct on the letter of the law:

1) She was participating in a school-sponsored activity. 40 years of Supreme Court precedent have stated that schools are within their rights to forbid speech or expression during these activities that would be disruptive to the school environment. You can quibble over whether her refusal to cheer caused the disruption, or that the administration singling her out caused it, but the end result is the same.

2) Cheerleading is a voluntary activity, like all other extra-curricular events. Therefore, the "captive audience" provisions (which permit someone to silently protest if they have no means of removing themselves from the speech they find offensive) do not apply. She could choose to abide by the rules of conduct she was given when she joined the cheer team, or she could choose not to and therefore forfeit the privilege of participating.

Now, I said that they were right on the technical merits. That doesn't mean I don't think that in the process they didn't run roughshod over the spirit of the law.

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They also ruled that she "pay the school district's legal fees on the grounds their suit was far-fetched and frivolous."

Now this part I wholly disagree with. It's just the court being a bunch of assholes.

Within the letter of the law, I'm sure they were right. But this should not have even been close to the big deal it was made into. Fucking hell, why couldn't she just... not cheer? Shes one cheerleader out of many, who the fuck cares. Make her sit out or have her quit, don;t humiliate her for no fucking reason.

That's probably the exact mentality that's at work.

You're right, of course you're right. And the little hussy might ruin school spirit and the football results!

Well it's good to know that they were technically correct and totally within their legal rights to humiliate a rape victim. Thanks for that bit of information.

Jesus wrote:

Make her sit out or have her quit

Yes, she should quit the cheerleading squad because of what he did to her.

Please take note, various trogs who advise rape victims to go to the cops - she did report the initial incident to the police. Didn't stop the community turning on her. Didn't get her rape kit processed any faster. Didn't stop her being forced off the cheerleading squad. Meanwhile the dude got to continue his life unhindered, and ultimately got away with a slap on the wrist. AMAZING FEMALE PRIVILEGES

She really shouldn't have to quit the team. I'm not proposing blaming her at all. But if they were going to be cuts about having to stick to her cheerleader duties, she should be given choices as to how she can not have to be involved in them when it comes to her rapist. Unfortunately, no matter what she does, it would likely end up beng not unlike quitting anyway, as he IS the star player.

In an ideal world, he'd be kicked off the team. But as we all know, that's just not going to happen. One little mistake shouldn't ruin his life, ya see.

Yes, I'm being facetious. Just to make sure you all know. I tend to get my ass thrown to the curb for quips like this.

I read about this on the PaperBackSwap forums. Someone there called the girl a media whore for taking it to court.

This is an example of sports culture, especially in small-town America. A star athlete is nigh-unto unassailable. The community within the school and outside it venerate him (almost, but not quite, always a male) so much that they are willing to overlook just about anything that they wouldn't for anyone else. He shoves someone (man or woman) down a flight of stairs? Well, that person must've deserved it. He wraps his car around a tree while high (but is unhurt himself)? Well, youthful exuberance should be excused. He turns out to be a serial killer? Well, it'd probably depend on whom he's been killing.* The athlete is such an idol that the people desperately need to doubt any accusations against him. Thus, any offense he commits must be both heinous (which rape absolutely is) and public (which rape rarely is). Anything less than incontrovertible proof, and people will cling to their belief in the athlete. Heck, some will do so even after being given proof on a platter.

That said, there is a simple way to reduce the fervor. He must simply stop being a star athlete. If he starts doing poorly or suffers a career-ending injury, they will abandon him. Sad as it may be, breaking his leg at practice will knock him off his golden throne faster than any criminal activity.

I was wonder about same thing, Spotts. Why did her lawyers go after the one case they had no chance of winning?




*I'm exaggerating on this one, but not as much as I wish I were.

Shit Psy, you're so right. The rape conviction rate in Ireland is less than five percent. In Wales a woman got eight months in prison for trying to withdraw rape charges after being pressured by her rapist to do so. In Detroit a fourteen year old killed herself after being bullied relentlessly because she accused an eighteen year old of raping her. But who cares? Clearly the real problem is the 2-8% of rape allegations that are genuinely, maliciously false. Let's talk about them and how to put a stop to them. Maybe we could pass a law making it illegal for rape victims to name their attackers except in a police station. Heck, if this cheerleader had just kept her rape to herself she wouldn't have been humiliated by the school so it's her own fault, right?

...so how big does the minority of the falsely accused need to be before they stop being acceptable collateral damage and start being another part of the problem that needs solving?

Shut up, Alhazred.

Psy-4 wrote:

Wonder where ZoZo's sarcasm is in the threads where rape allegations were false and a guy got their life ruined. Wait, nevermind, she's busy being an idiot in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Aww, is little baby still crying over ZoZo ignoring his non-existant Psychology degree?

False accusations of rape are in line with false accusations of any other crime, violent or otherwise.

I suppose it would therefore become a problem in need of a solution if it were vastly disproportionate.

If you'd put the law degree down for two seconds, you'd realise I wasn't even talking about the court case any more. I really couldn't give a flip about how her lawyers picked the wrong grounds for the lawsuit. I care that rape victims are expected to suck it up and/or alter their lives so their rapists can go on with theirs unless and until they're successfully convicted. That isn't wanting to render the law useless. That's called being pissed off at a shitty thing that happens way too often.