Cheerleader must compensate school that told her to clap 'rapist'

[Escapist Account]

Am I the only one who thinks the school system is right? The girl should definitely pay the 45 grand because?....Nope, couldn't keep a straight face. Joking aside, I can't believe this is actually happening. Shouldn't the rapist be kicked off the team for oh, I don't know, doing illegal and sexually explicit actions?

 

[SilverStrike]

Can't anyone.. do something? Please? This is.. fucking shameful.. I.. have no words. At least, no words that would be acceptable to put here... GAH. ~Grumbles multiple profanities~

 

[Pinstar]

I have a feeling that the fact that the basketball player sexually assaulted her was not proven in court (since the charge of rape was dropped). Therefore the student was trying to press legal charges on an item that was already proven to be false. If that actually reflects reality (IE if she actually got raped or not) is uncertain.

My question is, why was the rape charge dropped? Had she got that to stick, that kid wouldn't have been on the basketball team to begin with and this whole situation would have been avoided.

 

[Haydyn]

The hell? Where do I go to sexually assault girls and then get them to chant my name? Fuck life.

 

[Ladette]

I have a feeling that the fact that the basketball player sexually assaulted her was not proven in court (since the charge of rape was dropped). Therefore the student was trying to press legal charges on an item that was already proven to be false. If that actually reflects reality (IE if she actually got raped or not) is uncertain.

My question is, why was the rape charge dropped? Had she got that to stick, that kid wouldn't have been on the basketball team to begin with and this whole situation would have been avoided.

That's what I was thinking. I think the rape case was a lot weaker than some of these people who impulsivley sided with the cheerleader would like to believe.

The article is horribly slanted to make you think the basketball player definiantly raped her because that generates a lot more intrest. Some of the least objective journalism i've seen in a while.

 

[supermariner]

I've just realised
perhaps the American justice system is different and doesn't work in the same way
but in the British legal system (and a number of other democratic legal systems that i know of) If you sue someone and lose, you can't be held to PAY THEM. You're the one that brought the claim to the courts, and if you lose it just means it's been disproven and everyone walks away as they were.
Its only if the claimant wins that any compensation can be awarded

So i'm adamant that this story is bullshit now
(despite not knowing if the same applies in the US, but they're a free thinking nation, this seriously can't have happened exactly as it says it did)

 

[IzisviAziria]

You guys are missing a really big key here.

"HS and her parents instructed lawyers to pursue a compensation claim against the principal and the School District in early 2009"

AKA, her parents basically hired a lawyer and tried to sue the school for kicking her off the cheerleading team. While I don't think she deserved to be kicked off the cheerleading team, I sure as hell don't think she should be rewarded with thousands of dollars over it either. Sounds to me like the courts in Texas were simply responding appropriately to another frivolous lawsuit. The 45k in question is for filing a frivolous lawsuit.

Now, with that aside, let's put some of that into perspective. I'm not siding against her, altogether. I don't necessarily agree that she should have been kicked off the cheerleading squad... but more than that, I SURE as hell don't feel that her assailant had any right to be playing for the school basketball team. Sounds like he got off easy on a plea bargain. Go US Justice system.

But with that said, being kicked off the cheerleading squad for refusing to cheer, while circumstantially a bit out of line, is certainly not so out of order that it deserves a lawsuit. The source doesn't say, but I'd like to know what her parents/lawyers were asking in the suit against the school. I'd be willing to bet that it was a stupid amount. Hence, the courts dismissing it as a frivolous lawsuit, and holding her responsible as such.

 

[IzisviAziria]

I've just realised
perhaps the American justice system is different and doesn't work in the same way
but in the British legal system (and a number of other democratic legal systems that i know of) If you sue someone and lose, you can't be held to PAY THEM. You're the one that brought the claim to the courts, and if you lose it just means it's been disproven and everyone walks away as they were.
Its only if the claimant wins that any compensation can be awarded

So i'm adamant that this story is bullshit now
(despite not knowing if the same applies in the US, but they're a free thinking nation, this seriously can't have happened exactly as it says it did)

she doesn't owe money because she lost, she owes money because she filed a frivolous lawsuit.

on a side note, my captia has DEMENTIA in it XD

 

[gyroscopeboy]

WHAT........ THE ........... FUCK!!??!! she now owe's the school 45 grand because she wouldnt aplaud her RAPIST!?! WTF is up with texas and there wholehearted, Complete and utter devotion to high school level sports!?... Fukin retards

Rape is clearly part of the curriculum in Texas schools

 

[Ladette]

I've just realised
perhaps the American justice system is different and doesn't work in the same way
but in the British legal system (and a number of other democratic legal systems that i know of) If you sue someone and lose, you can't be held to PAY THEM. You're the one that brought the claim to the courts, and if you lose it just means it's been disproven and everyone walks away as they were.
Its only if the claimant wins that any compensation can be awarded

So i'm adamant that this story is bullshit now
(despite not knowing if the same applies in the US, but they're a free thinking nation, this seriously can't have happened exactly as it says it did)

In the US it's really easy to find a trashy lawyer who will take any case, no matter how stupid, and sue somebody for you. Compensation in this case is a means of discouraging frivolous lawsuits that bog down the already overwhelmed courts and keeping people from sueing over every little thing.

She isn't paying money because she lost the case, she's paying money for filing a case that never had a chance and only served to waste the schools time and money in legal fees.

 

[Shattubatu]

So the guy("ALLEGEDLY") rapes someone and stays on the team with virtually no repercussions, but when the girl refuses to clap she is expelled and forced to pay $45,000 and basically has one of her human rights taken away?

Man, this makes me feel bad to be a guy...

People take sports way too seriously, sport is one of the biggest causes of violence/hooliganism, people just need to understand that it's just a game, and that if it causes any suffering to ANYONE, it's not worth it.

 

[Gigano]

...
I can see where you're coming from. Would you be willing to call it "unjustified", rather than "unjustified and disproportionate"? It was the "disproportionate" part I found most troubling, anyway.

While I disagree with her position-I feel she should have just quit the cheer squad when asked to cheer for him-it makes sense that the legal question could be worth asking.

If those are the actual costs, and we're referring only to the size of the amount rather than the use of it as a de facto sanction in a case like this, then yes.

 

[TriggerOnly]

morals have all but vanished in society these days. Its a sad thing to see.

 

[theNater]

If those are the actual costs, and we're referring only to the size of the amount rather than the use of it as a de facto sanction in a case like this, then yes.

Agreed!

 

[CommanderKirov]

Wait a minute... Ommiting the whole sexual assault thing for a moment.

You can actually get to pay such a large ammount of money, because you did not want to do something you do for free as your hobby...


I'm trying to understand but I just don't get it

 

[Gigano]

Rape = death penalty.

Problem solved.​

Criminal sociology kind of disagree. The US got some of the harshest punishments in the first world, yet also one of the highest crime rates. If criminals - especially sex offender - were rational beings who carefully and carefully considered the pros and cons of a life of crime, then most of them presumably wouldn't be criminals - and certainly not sex offenders - in the first place.

And it would end up getting a lot of victims of assault rape killed, since there'd then be no motive for the perpetrator not to silence them permanently; the potential sentence can't get any worse anyway.

As for contact rape, the problem isn't the length of the sentences, but that these cases far too seldom see the courts in the first place.

Plus of course the usual problems of actually proving the crime - which is where the real meat of criminal law lies - and the whole debate over whether nations should even wield the power to execute its citizens.

...So problem not solved.

 

[Ladette]

Wait a minute... Ommiting the whole sexual assault thing for a moment.

You can actually get to pay such a large ammount of money, because you did not want to do something you do for free as your hobby...


I'm trying to understand but I just don't get it

She isn't being sued for refusing to cheer, she's being forced to pay "compensation" for a frivolous lawsuit. The school likely wants her to cover their lawyer bills.

It's easy to misread that due to the way the article is written. If she hadn't brought the school to court she wouldn't be forced to pay anything.

 

[CommanderKirov]

Wait a minute... Ommiting the whole sexual assault thing for a moment.

You can actually get to pay such a large ammount of money, because you did not want to do something you do for free as your hobby...


I'm trying to understand but I just don't get it

She isn't being sued for refusing to cheer, she's being forced to pay "compensation" for a frivolous lawsuit. The school likely wants her to cover their lawyer bills.

It's easy to misread that due to the way the article is written. If she hadn't brought the school to court she wouldn't be forced to pay anything.

Oh well that's reasonable than. Don't see why the school should have to pay the legal fees.