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

[Sikachu]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cheerleader-must-compensate-school-that-told-her-to-clap-rapist-2278522.html

A teenage girl who was dropped from her high school's cheer leading squad after refusing to chant the name of a basketball player who had sexually assaulted her must pay compensation of $45,000 (£27,300) after losing a legal challenge against the decision.

Normally stuff like this makes me rage so hard I am unable to type,this time I am sort of in a transcended state of pure rage so I am able to coherently type.It happened in the US in Texas btw.

So,what are the Escapists feelings on this,I consider myself level headed and understand crazy shit happens in this world,but if I had a daughter who got raped and I had to pay the rapists legal fees,I think I would instead use that money to buy guns and ammo and go postal on the judge and rapist.This is if I was 100% certain my daughter got raped.

And here ladies and gentlemen we have the perfect example of a lack of knowledge combined with a series of instant (and wrong) judgements to create "transcended state of pure rage" that informs the lynch mob mentality.

If the OP was better at comprehending reporting on legal proceedings, he would have reported that this was a challenge on the grounds of the school restricting her free speech by not allowing her to be a cheerleader that doesn't lead cheers for members of the team she doesn't like. Why she doesn't like them is completely irrelevant, the fact is that she's wants to be a cheerleader but doesn't want to cheer a player. Now if it turns out this boy did indeed rape her, a criminal prosecution will deal with that. However, the Supreme Court is well within its remit to mark this as a frivolous lawsuit (because the grounds on which she wasted the court's time don't reasonably represent the state of the law), and as such, she should be responsible for paying the costs in defending it.

If I sue you for no reason, would you rather you not be able to get the money back from defending yourself?

 

[Frosted89]

So let me get this straight, Texas Law let a rapist off with 2 years probation, community service, required to take anger management, and is not even going to have a record of rape, which likely means he's not going to have to register as a sex offender; And a girl who lead a civil lawsuit against the school and lost gets hit with a $45,000 dollar fine? I hate this world sometimes.

Some people here are letting their emotion get in front of their judgment. The second you hear 'rapist', logic just goes out the door for some.

If he 'got off with probation' it's because the prosecutor was not confident about their case against him and decided to either create or accept a plea bargain with the defense attorney. So the defendant pleaded guilty to a lesser charge, and by that I mean 'legally guilty'.

Put yourself in the position of the guy, supposing you are innocent. It's hard for those accused of rape to get an impartial jury, since rape is always linked with powerful emotions. You're black, in TEXAS. You could be convicted and go to prison for years. The prosecutor offers you a way out with simple probation and community service. Do you risk claiming your innocence at the risk of prison, or pick up garbage cans on the roads for a few hours.

This is how many trials end in America.

Or he could be a raping scumbag. How are you to know?

*I need to proofread.*

I'll admit I'm not in the best mindset to read something like this right now, it's late and I am extremely sick and irritable right now, yes I don't know what actually happened and yes he could of been falsely accused, I still hate the school for how ridiculous and insensitive they handled the whole situation; And I still hate this world, I'm going to bed now...

 

[Kevonovitch]

and people wonder why i'd put aside my hatered for the rest of the USA to specifically hate on texas...

 

[Spade Lead]

Okay. I think I'm going to be the dissenting voice here.

HUGE FUCKING DISCLAIMER: I don't believe that the douchebag that only avoided a rape charge due to a plea bargain should have been allowed back at that school, much less back onto the god damned sports team. That kind of bullshit would only fly in a state that's as insane over sports as Texas(which is where I'm from).

BUT

HS obviously decided that her enjoyment of cheerleading outweighed her anguish over rape when she chose to cheer for a school that allowed her rapist back on the team she was cheering for. She then decided not to cheer for the guy, which is well within her rights. The school then decided that they did not need a cheerleader that would not cheer when and what they asked her to. Incredibly fucked up, considering the circumstances, but also within their rights and hardly surprising considering they let him on the team at all. Everything after that is on HS and her family. Suing over a high school activity is frivolous. Her rights were not violated, and the school's actions, if you ignore the emotional aspect of it, were predictable. You wouldn't keep a pitcher on a baseball team if he refused to throw the ball because he didn't like the batter.

Basically, the story is fucked up, but not the part that the article focuses on. He should have never been let back on the team. After that, though, it was the girl's decisions that ultimately landed her family with that fee.

Bra-fucking-vo. You are the first person I have seen post here that truly gets it. Others have been close, but you truly get it. If I mention that Wells Fargo is a horrible company and that they are evil, they have every right to fire me, just like if I were to say over the phone to a customer that our rival company has a better product. She volunteered to cheer for the school's team. When she didn't perform her job function, she was terminated. She had no right to sue the school over it, because it was their right to do so. When she did, it was a frivolous lawsuit, and she was punished for wasting taxpayer resources.

No, I don't think the rapist should have been allowed back into the school, I think he should have been put on mandatory home schooling, but that isn't the issue here. Was she frivolous in her lawsuit, yes, should the taxpayers have to shoulder that burden, no.

 

[omega 616]

Well, a lot of people are probably going to land on probation after they flame me for saying this, but I think the school should have the right to kick her off the cheerleading squad. Yes, that guy who raped her is obviously scum who should be in jail instead of back at school playing basketball. But, as it stands, she's a cheerleader, meaning she's supposed to be cheering for the team and its players. If she isn't willing to fulfill those duties, she shouldn't be a cheerleader anymore.

The bit about a "frivolous" lawsuit that requires her to pay the school's legal fees is ridiculous though. If the courts can't see why the hell the student and her parents would fight the school on that, they're in dire need of a reality check. Do they deserve compensation from the school for the incident? I don't think so. But I also don't think they should be forced to pay the school's legal fees for this one: it's not like they sued the school because the cheerleading uniform made her look fat. Have some fucking sense, courts!

Also, I wonder why the hell the rapist managed to get off with a plea to misdemeanor assault with 2 years probation instead of being taken to trial for rape. Why did they offer him that deal? Did the family speak out against him getting that deal? I want to know more about that bit, because pleading out of a rape charge and getting 2 years probation seems utterly ridiculous to me.

if I had a daughter who got raped and I had to pay the rapists legal fees

It's not the rapist's legal fees that they have to pay, it's the school's.

Imagine her cheerleading is your gaming, I am assuming you love to game 'cos your on this site.

So your doing your thing, spent hours practicing all the routines and how to do all the jumps and flips just right. Then some walking erection comes along, rapes you and now your expecting to support the guy and chant his name?

Oh you don't want to chant his name 'cos he raped you? Your off the team but you love the team and want to stay on it ... what do?

Not only has he raped you, he got a slap on the wrist, ruined your passion or made you cheer/support him.

So what would you have done?

 

[SwimmingRock]

Here is a question, WHY IS THE RAPIST STILL ON ANY TEAM AND NOT IN JAIL??!? This situation should not even be happening...or is it just me?

This, absolutely and 100% what I wanted to post. What the hell is wrong with this school and the judicial system in Texas that this situation came up in the first place? And how is it that there aren't more people (specifically parents of children who go to that school) complaining to the school about glorifying a rapist by having the cheerleaders cheer for him?

 

[Newtonyd]

Imagine her cheerleading is your gaming, I am assuming you love to game 'cos your on this site.

So your doing your thing, spent hours practicing all the routines and how to do all the jumps and flips just right. Then some walking erection comes along, rapes you and now your expecting to support the guy and chant his name?

Oh you don't want to chant his name 'cos he raped you? Your off the team but you love the team and want to stay on it ... what do?

Not only has he raped you, he got a slap on the wrist, ruined your passion or made you cheer/support him.

So what would you have done?

Complained to the school board, protested in front of the school, started a petition, found a new hobby, or, if nothing else works, just move to a different school. As parents, I'd understand wanting to move.

I would not have brought legal action where there is little hope for victory. I would especially not press the issue after losing two court cases, and it's probably partially the girl's lawyer's fault for allowing this to happen. Not that he has to pay the fees, in the end.

This, absolutely and 100% what I wanted to post. What the hell is wrong with this school and the judicial system in Texas that this situation came up in the first place? And how is it that there aren't more people (specifically parents of children who go to that school) complaining to the school about glorifying a rapist by having the cheerleaders cheer for him?

He was not convicted of being a rapist. He pleaded guilty to assault. While it may be questionable to have an assaulter on the team, it's not overly surprising.

 

[Nickolai77]

I'm just going to assume we havn't got the full story here. It's one of those things that sound so ridiculous it can't be true...i hope.

 

[Spade Lead]

- Suing someone and FAILING means you SHOULD have to reimburse them for the money they spent, TAX MONEY paid for by the citizens of the county, city, etc. Otherwise, all people need do to bully you is to bring a frivolous case against you, lose that case, then walk away leaving YOU with a damaging bill.

I had that happen. I hurt someone worse than they hurt me, even though they did it first. He sued me for $70,000. I never hired a lawyer, intending to ride it out, magically, three days before it was supposed to go to court, it got dropped...

 

[Ladette]

I'm not at all suprised by the emotional responses. People see the word rape and they work themselves into a mouth foaming craze. I'm not in any way condoning rape, it's argubly the worst thing you can do to a person short of killing them. But the rape thing has nothing to do with her lawsuit against the school.

She's basically an employee of the school. She refused to do her job, she got fired. Then she came back and sued the school for firing her for not going her job, lost, and now the school wants her to pay for their legal fees.

If I were to refuse to deal with one of our customers because he killed my father and got away with it it'd be well within my bosses right to fire me for not doing my job, because that's conduct detrimintal to the company.

Whoever told her to sue is a complete idiot for thinking this case had a chance.

 

[theNater]

Imagine her cheerleading is your gaming, I am assuming you love to game 'cos your on this site.

So your doing your thing, spent hours practicing all the routines and how to do all the jumps and flips just right. Then some walking erection comes along, rapes you and now your expecting to support the guy and chant his name?

Oh you don't want to chant his name 'cos he raped you? Your off the team but you love the team and want to stay on it ... what do?

Not only has he raped you, he got a slap on the wrist, ruined your passion or made you cheer/support him.

So what would you have done?

She had months, and games are scheduled. When the game started looming, first thing I would have done is asked the coach if I could sit out of cheers specifically for that player. If coach says no, I'd call in sick on days of basketball games.

 

[Sikratua]

Tinker v. Des Moines Iowa Board of Education (1969)

Basically, a students First Amendment rights do NOT end at the schoolhouse door, provided that expressing oneself does not infringe on another person's ability to express their own First Ammendment rights. The school, by federal precident, was in the wrong. This lawsuit was not frivilous.

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/tinker.html

Of major importance here is the third part of the Supreme Court's decision. Yeah. I think my work is done here.

 

[F'Angus]

I think this calls for a WTF!

 

[Hive Mind]

Rape = death penalty.

Problem solved.​

 

[Ladette]

Imagine her cheerleading is your gaming, I am assuming you love to game 'cos your on this site.

So your doing your thing, spent hours practicing all the routines and how to do all the jumps and flips just right. Then some walking erection comes along, rapes you and now your expecting to support the guy and chant his name?

Oh you don't want to chant his name 'cos he raped you? Your off the team but you love the team and want to stay on it ... what do?

Not only has he raped you, he got a slap on the wrist, ruined your passion or made you cheer/support him.

So what would you have done?

Protest, picket, start a facebook group, and complain to the school district.

If it came down to it I personally would quit, because not cheering means getting kicked off the team anyways and in this case i'd rather just quit on my own terms. I'm not stupid enough to start something that I know I can't win.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

What.
The.
Fuck.

 

[Cracker3011]

This is what I do believe to be UTTER BULLSHIT.

 

[Scars Unseen]

Tinker v. Des Moines Iowa Board of Education (1969)

Basically, a students First Amendment rights do NOT end at the schoolhouse door, provided that expressing oneself does not infringe on another person's ability to express their own First Ammendment rights. The school, by federal precident, was in the wrong. This lawsuit was not frivilous.

http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/tinker.html

Yeah. I think my work is done here.

Not really. Apples and oranges here. She exercised her free speech by refusing to take part in the core activity of the thing she was wearing that uniform to do. The school took a logical action in response. No one's rights were violated.

Really now. If it was as simple as a federal precedent do you think it would have gone all the way to the Supreme Court and then turned down as frivolous?

 

[Kurokami]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/cheerleader-must-compensate-school-that-told-her-to-clap-rapist-2278522.html

A teenage girl who was dropped from her high school's cheer leading squad after refusing to chant the name of a basketball player who had sexually assaulted her must pay compensation of $45,000 (£27,300) after losing a legal challenge against the decision.

Normally stuff like this makes me rage so hard I am unable to type,this time I am sort of in a transcended state of pure rage so I am able to coherently type.It happened in the US in Texas btw.

So,what are the Escapists feelings on this,I consider myself level headed and understand crazy shit happens in this world,but if I had a daughter who got raped and I had to pay the rapists legal fees,I think I would instead use that money to buy guns and ammo and go postal on the judge and rapist.This is if I was 100% certain my daughter got raped.

I'm with you, I find it hard to find otherwise but then I don't know the specifics. Maybe there wasn't enough evidence. Either way I'm assuming the judge had to have had his reasons for judging as he did. Then again, this is Texas. (no offence to anyone, I'm just according to stereotypes and what I see in T.V)