Here’s our Perversion of Justice of the Week. You have to read this story to believe it — and even then it’s hard to fathom.
The Supreme Court this week refused to hear the case of a teenage girl who was kicked off her cheerleading team after refusing to cheer for the boy who sexually assaulted her.
As a result, she now owes the school $45,000 in legal fees.
The girl, known only as MS, accused a fellow student of raping her at a party. He pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge to avoid jail time and was allowed to return to school and the basketball team.
She continued to cheer for the team during games, but refused to shout the boy’s name or clap for him when he shot free throws. When the superintendent discovered what she was doing, she was kicked off the team.
She sued the Texas school, arguing that her free speech rights had been violated, but two courts ruled that as a cheerleader she speaks for the school, not herself, and did not have the right to refuse. [our emphasis]
John Grooms is a multiple award-winning writer and editor, teacher, public speaker, event organizer, cultural critic, music history buff and incurable smartass. He writes the Boomer With Attitude column,...
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5 Comments
I agree with the concept of the loser paying the court cost.
I, however, do not agree that the victim of a crime should be forced to cheer for the perpetrator.
That said, the family of the cheerleader are the ones who chose to pursue this in court, and an attorney, who should know the law, chose to take their money and push this all the way up through the appeals process. If it had been you being sued when you did nothing illegal, wouldn’t you want to be reimbursed for the money you spent defending yourself?
Not ‘illegal’ does not make this right. I am tired of students being denied free speech rights because they are students. Seems more a part of conditioning them to become unquestioning sheep as adults, than about any legal anything or need for discipline.
I think the court was right but I think the school was wrong to kick her off the team. It was just 1 of 15 cheerleaders concerning a single student so it was probably not even obvious to the casual viewer. This is an example where a school that likes to use one size fits all policy will fail. Just a little bit of compassion and understanding instead of blind rule following would have sufficed.
I side the the girl.
I side with the court.
I side against the stupid school.
I agree with the concept of the loser paying the court cost.
I, however, do not agree that the victim of a crime should be forced to cheer for the perpetrator.
That said, the family of the cheerleader are the ones who chose to pursue this in court, and an attorney, who should know the law, chose to take their money and push this all the way up through the appeals process. If it had been you being sued when you did nothing illegal, wouldn’t you want to be reimbursed for the money you spent defending yourself?
Not ‘illegal’ does not make this right. I am tired of students being denied free speech rights because they are students. Seems more a part of conditioning them to become unquestioning sheep as adults, than about any legal anything or need for discipline.
If every time you get your feelings hurt you reach for your lawyer’s phone number, then you should have to pay the costs when you are wrong.
Our increasingly litigious society is counter productive. It serves primarily to enrich lawyers.
I think the court was right but I think the school was wrong to kick her off the team. It was just 1 of 15 cheerleaders concerning a single student so it was probably not even obvious to the casual viewer. This is an example where a school that likes to use one size fits all policy will fail. Just a little bit of compassion and understanding instead of blind rule following would have sufficed.
I side the the girl.
I side with the court.
I side against the stupid school.
Why are they doing an illegal pyramid for the high school level? The coach should be fired for lack of concern for the cheerleaders safety.