Free Speech Lawsuit By Student Forced to Cheer Rapist Found Not "Frivolous"

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week overruled a decision requiring a Texas cheerleader to pay $35,000 in legal fees after she sued the high school that forced her to cheer for a basketball player who pled guilty to assaulting her.

H.S. was removed from the cheerleading squad by Superintendent Richard Bain for asserting that she would not cheer for her rapist by name. This incident and the school's general misconduct motivated her family to bring a lawsuit against the school district on free speech, equal protection, and due process grounds.

The decision, issued Monday, alters a ruling by a lower court which previously found the cheerleader’s entire suit “frivolous,” ordering the sexual assault survivor to pay the school district $35,000 in legal expenses. The new ruling finds that the free speech portion of the lawsuit was not frivolous, and orders the amount owed to be recalculated accordingly.

The news comes after more than 140,000 people joined a popular campaign on Change.org calling on Silsbee High School to admit to mistreating the student, apologize for the actions against her, improve district policy for dealing with sexual assault, and refuse to take money from the girl and her family. As of yet, the school has not responded. This court decision represents a golden opportunity for the Silsbee Independent School District Official to say they don't force money from rape survivors.

Activists have also raised money to cover the student’s legal fees and launched a protest campaign in which people mail pennies to the school.

The outpouring of support for this Texas cheerleader from well over a hundred thousand people is evidence that her story has touched many hearts. The demonstration of support has meant a lot to this teenager and her family, and while this court decision represents a partial victory for them, Change.org members continue to tell the school district that it’s wrong to take a single penny from this student. Craig, the survivor's father, continues to fight for the school to acknowledge the injustice and improve their policies, so that no other Silsbee student has to go through what his daughter did.

The Silsbee Bee, the local paper, and many of H.S.'s classmates and neighbors turned on her after the assault, resorting to victim-blaming and slut-shaming in defense of the star athlete that admitted to assaulting her. Recently, Bee editor Gerry Dickert resigned -- the unconfirmed speculation is that his departure relates to the attacks on his newspaper's biased reporting. Unfortunately, members of the Silsbee school district, local law enforcement, and public officials who privately side with the girl and her family's campaign, have been afraid to stand up and express those sentiments. The school district has already retaliated against those who support H.S., even firing a retired police sergeant giving a sex crimes lecture for simply mentioning the case.

This hostility and fear has made the support from people across the nation that much more poignant -- and you can add your voice to the 140,000 by signing here.

Photo credit: Mike Miley