I have lived in Texas most of my life, and this is easily explained. In Texas, sports matter more than anything else. Parents will be up in arms about a bad/losing coach. But, they could care less if the school is graduating kids who can’t even read.
Maybe I see this a certain way because I have a daughter, but I’d prefer that the rapist be run through a tree chipper to community services or any such irrelevant trivia.
Something that’s never been made clear to me is who really benefits if a high school team wins all the time. But I’m not really an organized-sports kinda guy.
I don’t think there should be a rush to put the girl back as a cheerleader. I think the first rush should be to fire the school district superintendent and the high school principal. Are judges and sheriffs elected, in Texas? They need to get good jobs as Wal-Mart greeters.
The girl needs to be at another school. Somewhere that cares about the students.
> I’d prefer that the rapist be run through a tree chipper
Remember a few days ago I posted that death threats or advocating violence was verbotten around here?
Advocating running a rapist through a tree chipper is *not* included in such prohibitions. Rapists *really* piss me right the hell off, and I see no pressing need to maintain them within the gene pool. After a proper trial with all the appropriate protections, if someone is found to have willingly and knowingly raped someone else… strike them from society.
Putting them on the basketball team seems somehow insufficient.
The post draws its source material from womensrights.org and Ms. Magazine. I don’t know that the girl wasn’t raped, nor do I know, given the sources involved, that she was. I didn’t see links to the court documents either. What I saw was a post designed to elicit a particular response and a lot of knee-jerk hatred and anti-Texas bigotry and ignorance resulting from said post.
That said, IF the story is an accurate representation of the events rather than another Duke Lacrosse case, THEN the school acted in an unsupportable fashion. And I think you’ll find that most Texans would agree with that assessment.
A Texas high school cheerleader who was kicked off her squad for not cheering for a basketball player she accused of trying to rape her lost her free speech case before the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The appellate court found the cheerleader (identified in court recrods as H.S. since she is a minor) had actually violated the speech rights of Silsbee High School by not performing her cheerleading duties.
A former Silsbee High school football star has pleaded guilty to assault in a case that involved a former cheerleader and an off campus party.
A judge sentenced Rakheem Jamal Bolton, 19, to one year in jail, but the sentence was suspended and Bolton will remain free if he follows the terms of his probation.
Shortly before I graduated college (from a state school virtually identified by its football team), a young woman alleged rape by a football player. An investigation was launched, only to be dropped when the woman dropped out of school and returned to her small town home, leaving the prosecution “without a witness,” as they put it.
In another case, a woman alleged she’d been tied to a bed in a firehall, and repeatedly raped over a period of days. Defense countered she’d been seen dancing naked by an interstate on the other side of town during the period in question.
The facts of neither case are known. What is known is that the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates 61% of rapes go unreported; that the FBI deems 8% of rape allegations unfounded; that the Department of Justice estimates 1 in 6 women will be raped during their lifetime. Cross-correlation of the 1st & last figures yields something like 1 in 3, the number oft cited by anti-rape activists. (wikipedia, all…feel free to look elsewhere).
Years ago, my father expressed disbelief at the 1 in 3 number. I responded that, among the women I knew well enough to have heard so intimate information, 1 in 3 was about right.
Regarding the original assault/rape charges, none of the links provided give much clarity. Apparently there was a party at which minors were drinking. That could lead to boys stupidly assaulting a girl, or a girl stupidly agreeing to have sex which she later regretted and decided must have been rape. Insufficient data. That *something* sexual happened doesn’t appear to be in dispute.
The summary of the case against the school (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov:8081/isysquery/irl56ba/1/doc) indicates that, given the previous decisions and the responsibilities of a cheerleader and the options she was given, the school acted within its rights. Without knowing whether there ever actually was an assault (people plead guilty to lesser crimes for many reasons, including a desire to just end the proceedings, or because they believe they’ll lose if they fight for their innocence regardless of the merits of the prosecution’s case) I can’t say that the school acted insensitively or not. The whole situation appears to boil down to “he said/she said” with the community being divided on the question.
Interesting critique of the campus rape “industry” by a paper published by a conservative think tank…with whose points I in fact largely agree. But utterly irrelevant, I think, to the “number of rapes in general” statistics provided by Dept. of Justice sources, and applying not to campuses, but the female population in general.
As an anecdotal “test,” Jason, ask yourself how many women’s sexual histories you are personally knowledgable of…how many women you know well enough to know whether or not they’d been raped?
The case in question may very well have involved “a girl stupidly agreeing to have sex which she later regretted.” But requiring the girl to cheer the name of someone she maintains raped her seems, well, “insensitive” on the level of denying benefit of the doubt to someone whose experience cannot be of a certainty known, who WOULD experience “harm” in so cheering (if truthful anyway…and if untruthful, why not simply cheer?), in favor of the guy who, if not cheered by name by this PARTICULAR cheerleader, would experience…what, exactly?
Too, there’s a bottom line that goes unmentioned in all “she consented while partying” defenses, which is simply: is drunken “consent,” consent? Does such “consent” exempt the male from the sort of behavior we ourselves would expect men to exercise toward our own daughters, sisters, mothers? Sure, the drunk chick’s been unwise…but what’s the drunk (or not) dude being? Qualify it however you like…write new provisos to the law, as in manslaughter, I won’t argue…the word is “rapist.”
There is something to be said for vigilantism.
I have lived in Texas most of my life, and this is easily explained. In Texas, sports matter more than anything else. Parents will be up in arms about a bad/losing coach. But, they could care less if the school is graduating kids who can’t even read.
Sounds intelligent…another reason to hate Texas.
Maybe I see this a certain way because I have a daughter, but I’d prefer that the rapist be run through a tree chipper to community services or any such irrelevant trivia.
Something that’s never been made clear to me is who really benefits if a high school team wins all the time. But I’m not really an organized-sports kinda guy.
I don’t think there should be a rush to put the girl back as a cheerleader. I think the first rush should be to fire the school district superintendent and the high school principal. Are judges and sheriffs elected, in Texas? They need to get good jobs as Wal-Mart greeters.
The girl needs to be at another school. Somewhere that cares about the students.
> Are judges and sheriffs elected, in Texas?
Typically, yes.
For such miscreants, one might propose the Don Imus Mobile Justice Van (2000 car batteries and a set of jumper cables). Fully COTS to boot.
> I’d prefer that the rapist be run through a tree chipper
Remember a few days ago I posted that death threats or advocating violence was verbotten around here?
Advocating running a rapist through a tree chipper is *not* included in such prohibitions. Rapists *really* piss me right the hell off, and I see no pressing need to maintain them within the gene pool. After a proper trial with all the appropriate protections, if someone is found to have willingly and knowingly raped someone else… strike them from society.
Putting them on the basketball team seems somehow insufficient.
I just can’t believe they are letting it happen.Might as well not punished him with anything at all.
The post draws its source material from womensrights.org and Ms. Magazine. I don’t know that the girl wasn’t raped, nor do I know, given the sources involved, that she was. I didn’t see links to the court documents either. What I saw was a post designed to elicit a particular response and a lot of knee-jerk hatred and anti-Texas bigotry and ignorance resulting from said post.
That said, IF the story is an accurate representation of the events rather than another Duke Lacrosse case, THEN the school acted in an unsupportable fashion. And I think you’ll find that most Texans would agree with that assessment.
> The post draws its source material from womensrights.org and Ms. Magazine.
The magic of Google:
http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?id=521866
A Texas high school cheerleader who was kicked off her squad for not cheering for a basketball player she accused of trying to rape her lost her free speech case before the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The appellate court found the cheerleader (identified in court recrods as H.S. since she is a minor) had actually violated the speech rights of Silsbee High School by not performing her cheerleading duties.
http://www.kfdm.com/articles/former-39394-school-high.html
A former Silsbee High school football star has pleaded guilty to assault in a case that involved a former cheerleader and an off campus party.
A judge sentenced Rakheem Jamal Bolton, 19, to one year in jail, but the sentence was suspended and Bolton will remain free if he follows the terms of his probation.
Shortly before I graduated college (from a state school virtually identified by its football team), a young woman alleged rape by a football player. An investigation was launched, only to be dropped when the woman dropped out of school and returned to her small town home, leaving the prosecution “without a witness,” as they put it.
In another case, a woman alleged she’d been tied to a bed in a firehall, and repeatedly raped over a period of days. Defense countered she’d been seen dancing naked by an interstate on the other side of town during the period in question.
The facts of neither case are known. What is known is that the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates 61% of rapes go unreported; that the FBI deems 8% of rape allegations unfounded; that the Department of Justice estimates 1 in 6 women will be raped during their lifetime. Cross-correlation of the 1st & last figures yields something like 1 in 3, the number oft cited by anti-rape activists. (wikipedia, all…feel free to look elsewhere).
Years ago, my father expressed disbelief at the 1 in 3 number. I responded that, among the women I knew well enough to have heard so intimate information, 1 in 3 was about right.
Regarding the number of rapes in general: http://www.city-journal.org/2008/18_1_campus_rape.html
Regarding the original assault/rape charges, none of the links provided give much clarity. Apparently there was a party at which minors were drinking. That could lead to boys stupidly assaulting a girl, or a girl stupidly agreeing to have sex which she later regretted and decided must have been rape. Insufficient data. That *something* sexual happened doesn’t appear to be in dispute.
The summary of the case against the school (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.ca5.uscourts.gov:8081/isysquery/irl56ba/1/doc) indicates that, given the previous decisions and the responsibilities of a cheerleader and the options she was given, the school acted within its rights. Without knowing whether there ever actually was an assault (people plead guilty to lesser crimes for many reasons, including a desire to just end the proceedings, or because they believe they’ll lose if they fight for their innocence regardless of the merits of the prosecution’s case) I can’t say that the school acted insensitively or not. The whole situation appears to boil down to “he said/she said” with the community being divided on the question.
Interesting critique of the campus rape “industry” by a paper published by a conservative think tank…with whose points I in fact largely agree. But utterly irrelevant, I think, to the “number of rapes in general” statistics provided by Dept. of Justice sources, and applying not to campuses, but the female population in general.
As an anecdotal “test,” Jason, ask yourself how many women’s sexual histories you are personally knowledgable of…how many women you know well enough to know whether or not they’d been raped?
The case in question may very well have involved “a girl stupidly agreeing to have sex which she later regretted.” But requiring the girl to cheer the name of someone she maintains raped her seems, well, “insensitive” on the level of denying benefit of the doubt to someone whose experience cannot be of a certainty known, who WOULD experience “harm” in so cheering (if truthful anyway…and if untruthful, why not simply cheer?), in favor of the guy who, if not cheered by name by this PARTICULAR cheerleader, would experience…what, exactly?
Too, there’s a bottom line that goes unmentioned in all “she consented while partying” defenses, which is simply: is drunken “consent,” consent? Does such “consent” exempt the male from the sort of behavior we ourselves would expect men to exercise toward our own daughters, sisters, mothers? Sure, the drunk chick’s been unwise…but what’s the drunk (or not) dude being? Qualify it however you like…write new provisos to the law, as in manslaughter, I won’t argue…the word is “rapist.”