I know, I know, we were all hoping this would be an Osama Bin Laden post. But instead it's about something really sickening. A Texas high school cheerleader in Silsbee was raped at 16, then when she refused to cheer for the rapist when required to by the school, she was dropped from the squad. The Supreme Court declined to hear the decision, meaning that the woman will be stuck with $45,000 in legal fees.
"As a cheerleader, HS served as a mouthpiece through which [the school district] could disseminate speech - namely, support for its athletic teams," the appeals court decision says. "This act constituted substantial interference with the work of the school because, as a cheerleader, HS was at the basketball game for the purpose of cheering, a position she undertook voluntarily."
The family's lawyer said the ruling meanst that students exercising their right of free speech can end up punished for refusing to follow "insensitive and unreasonable directions"
You'll notice I don't write many posts about court decisions that don't involve lockouts. Part of it is because SB Nation, as a whole, isn't big on the whole politics thing. Another is that I find it hard to be critically objective about this sort of story.
Let me put it this way: if your rules involve forcing a young woman who was raped to cheer for her assailant, your rules are goddamn ridiculous.