High School Cheerleader Kicked Off Squad for Refusal to Cheer for Her Rapist

[gatorboy]

http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/high_school_cheerleader_kicked_off_squad_for_refusal_to_cheer_for_her_rapist#share_source=blog-top_fb

H.S., a Silsbee student, reported being raped by Rakheem Bolton with the help of two of his friends, a fellow student and athletic star. In the end, Bolton ended up getting off without serving any jail time by pleading guilty to a lesser assault charge, spending two years on probation, doing community service, paying a fine, and attending anger management courses. Hardly seems like an adequate punishment, but it's unfortunately not uncommon for attackers to bargain down their charges. What really gets the blood boiling is how the students' high school treated the victim.

Bolton was set to be on the school's varsity basketball team, and they couldn't risk losing by barring him from playing for a silly thing like a rape charge. That could impact their chances at winning. Who cares about the traumatic impact it would have an a cheerleader who needed to vocally support a team including her rapist?

But H.S. fulfilled her role as a cheerleader, participating in all the cheers for the team as a group. She simply refused to shout the first name of the man who assaulted her when he stood up alone to make free throws. It seems like she was being more than accommodating, when an student athlete facing trial on rape charges most likely should have been suspended from the team, even if his presence wasn't a source of immediate distress to his victim in her position as cheerleader. In a display of extreme disrespect for a rape survivor and disregard for her well-being, school officials insisted that H.S. had to scream "Rakheem" with the rest of the cheerleaders, or she'd be kicked off the squad.

[YOY]

1. That is some f***ed up shit.

n.t.

[Obamanaut]

18. It is indeed. I would hope for a civil suit and get everything the jerk

and his parents ever had and ever hoped to have.

I'm sitting here pissed off that the school still allows this little miscreant to even come close to the team to play for the school.

[femrap]

50. Can patriarchy stretch

itself any further???? My lobe just blew. This is beyond unbelievable. Yep, I find an attorney and make sure the rapist, etc. pay.

Jesus....how is this much different than the Taliban?

[BlancheSplanchnik]

88. really, femrap... I weep.

Weep or scream or go ballistic.

sometimes I fantasize about vigilante groups roaming the streets, women stopping the men who hurt women.

[MsPithy]

128. May I recommend a movie you might like?

Any vigilante group must include Lisbeth Salander, a character in the movie The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, available on Netflix. It is in Swedish, with subtitles. I had no idea what it was about, but it is pretty good. The violence is shocking, but there is a really satisfying twist.

In the world as it is now, it is hard to prove that rape is a crime at all. All the "benefit of the doubt," automatically goes the the rapist. Men must be protected against being falsely accused at all cost, no matter how many women are denied justice. I can just hear the officials in this high school, who don't want to "ruin this boy's life, for just one mistake," blaa, blaa, effing blaaaa.

If rapists had to face Lisbeth Salander, they would confess and race to the safety of jail.

[seabeyond]

132. "ruin this boy's life, for just one mistake," ... they actually said that

a couple times, a couple ways.

[DailyGrind51]

217. His "mistake" ruined that girl's life!

[BlancheSplanchnik]

270. to that maindset, girls don't HAVE lives.

We're not truly human to anyone who puts all other interests ahead of a female life. (abstract "unborn people", rapists' "future careers", men's salary raises, promotions ahead of women's fair earnings..... )

[DailyGrind51]

274. It disgusts me that the punk can do that to her and still look people in the eye!

While her ability to form trusting relationships is forever scared.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

275. yes. :( There's a book called "Rape Culture"

that I started to read years ago, then lost. I hope it educated whoever assumed ownership :) And one of these days, I might buy it again.

It's a Rape Culture that allows perpetrators to get away with copping feels, encourages men to get as much poo-say as they can, creates sit-coms dedicated to "loveable" leches, and saturates programming with news infotainment and dramas that leer with fascinated dismay at the many female victims of sexualized violence.

Meanwhile, in real life, male attackers of women are grossly under prosecuted but the female objects of their attentions are punished.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

135. I've been thinking of signing up for netflix

I just keep not doing it!

Sounds pretty good, though


Have you read "Our Guys" ? It's about the case some years ago in NJ of the star football players of the local HS team. Similar to this story, they raped a mentally disabled girl and all got off. The town, teachers, everyone protected them because they were so beloved and important. Jocks.

[MedicalAdmin]

256. It was also made into a movie.

Fucking disgusting story line that made me want to beat someone to death with a baseball bat. Luckily there is scotch or I'd probably be in jail.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

273. Our Guys was made into a movie??

Wow, I didn't realize that. Just reading the book made me want to do the same.

[eyeofdelphi]

163. i just watched that movie

and i totally agree with you. i was very pleased with how Lisbeth handled that situation. just a warning, it's very shocking violence, the kind that makes your stomach knot and your mouth sour, the kind you can't stop thinking about the next day. not one for the kiddies.
but if all rapists had to face someone like Lisbeth, rape would be a crime that seldom happened.

[femrap]

173. kick ass, Lisbeth....

my heroine...and others, as well.

[blackbart99]

221. Good movie idea...I like it!!

[Esse Quam Videri]

223. 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'

was a great movie. The violence is shocking (and just in my opinion). When I heard they were casting for that movie to be made in the US I immediately wondered how they were going to portray the violence and still retain the impact.

[Demoiselle]

241. It's a really good movie, and

You'd probably like the three books in the series it was based on.
Steig Larson is the author, the books are:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Girl Who Played with Fire and
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. (I think that's the order.)

Lisbeth Salander, bless her tough heart, is the heroine of all three.

[reggie the dog]

206. if she were my daughter or sister or girlfriend

i would be very tempted to set up and properly carry out a summary execution and try to not leave any evidence.

[Dash87]

112. This is really disgusting.

And the answer to your question is, it's the S.S.D.D. :(

♥

[Chulanowa]

51. Welcome to the modern high school

Some of them aren't even schools anymore, just academic fronts for corporate-sponsored sports programs

[Kievan Rus]

133. My high school was like that

They poured millions and millions of taxpayer dollars into the football team and its facilities. Meanwhile, we had sociology and law books from the early 1980s.

What cracks me up the most about it is that only professional athelete to come out of my high school to date didn't play football; he was a hockey player that I believe still plays in the NHL.

[olegramps]

245. SIGN THE PETITION!!!!!!!

[MedicalAdmin]

255. Well it is Texas.

Wouldn't want to get in the way of the local adults reliving the "best days of their lives," no matter how pathetic that is.

I've posted this on my facebook page, will be sending it out in our clinic newsletter, and forwarded it to several friends in the NAACP. Some shit shouldn't be allowed to stand. God this just pisses me off.

edited to add this link: "If I had a rocket launcher" by Bruce Cockburn -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7vCww3j2-w

[Enthusiast]

203. It certainly is..............nt

[progressoid]

2. What the ...?

[flvegan]

3. How could any of the cheerleaders, or any spectator cheer for him?

He should get nothing but jeers anytime his name is mentioned, he scores a point, etc. To me, he shouldn't be on the team. Expulsion from school seems fitting at the very least, matter of fact.

I'll step aside now for the "but he paid his debt to society" apologists.

[joeybee12]

6. Apparently you didn't watch the beginning of the Pittsburgh Steelers game Sunday...n/t

[Kalyke]

33. I don't watch Michal "dog abuser/killer" Vick play.

His team is not allowed on my television - period.

What do you mean, exactly?

[joeybee12]

39. Vick plays for Philadelphia...Ben The Rapist Rohtelsberger plays for

Pittsburgh...finished his 4 game suspension and the crowd there gave him a standing ovation...disgusting.

[seabeyond]

43. can you believe. my boys are into football. they are always telling me what is up with footie

footie football players. they are disgusted with this guy. they are continually having to mark names off the list of men they want to respect or appreciate. it is giving them a real insite to the abuse of star status.

it is a good lesson for them, if nothing else. but then we live in a house were we discuss this shit, teach empathy, and practice respect of one another.

another story for those that dont experience these asshoels in that manner, and they hero worship them.

[smiley]

59. hmmm

... I thought as liberals we stood for innocent until proven guilty. As far as I know, no charges were ever filed against Roethlisberger. Maybe you know different. Please inform me if you do.

[gatorboy]

75. ....

[awoke_in_2003]

110. He has been accused 3 times...

and money made each one go away. One accusation you say "hmmm". Two accusations you say "WTF?". Third? On the last one they have him on tape following a girl into a bathroom and stationing his guys outside the door. He was not in there exchanging recipes. I am a lifelong Steelers fan- people like him belong on the Raiders.

[seabeyond]

118. even my huby who is ultimate in fair and refuses to jump the gun, is disgusted by him

i hadnt followed the story and when he expressed disgust, i was surprised. i thought it was a he said, she said. like i say, i havent followed. but for hubby to feel so strongly, led me to believe was pretty clear.

[awoke_in_2003]

138. I put up with 20 years...

of shitty steeler quarterbacking, and will do it again if the team would do the right thing and move him on to Al Davis.

[seabeyond]

139. that is what my husband said. just wrong he was brought back. only four games, was six

he was really bothered.

[Name removed]

201. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[joeybee12]

242. I believe there's a fourth...happened in Boston...guy has a pattern...

and did he deny he had an off-duty police officer stationed at the door so she couldn't get out?

[awoke_in_2003]

251. Yep, Denial...

not just a river in Egypt.

[MedicalAdmin]

258. People like him belong on the Raiders?

WTF? People like him belong tied up naked on the floor of a prison shower.


And on that note here's a joke. What's the worst thing you can hear while giving Willy Nelson a blow job. "I'm not Willy Nelson." I heard David Sedaris tell that joke recently.

[awoke_in_2003]

280. No, but Al Davis...

seems to gravite toward league rejects.

[smiley]

276. not sayin he isn't a pig with women

I'm just saying he hasn't been charged with rape and I'm not going to accuse someone of it unless I have the evidence or the court has ruled he has. It's that whole thing we got, called innocent until proven guilty.

[burning rain]

194. "Innocent until proven guilty" is only operative in the courtroom.

.

[blueamy66]

211. You're joking, right?

please.....have you heard of the word "cash"?

[smiley]

277. yep - I've heard of cash.

I've also heard of innocent until proven guilty. But you guys are also entitled to your opinion.

[redirish28]

222. My wife has always been a die-hard Steelers fan..Until this year.

As long as Ben is on the team she will not root for them.

[Dorian Gray]

147. Oops...

wrong team, but another good example.

Pittsburg is Roethlesburger, the Rapist. Not Vick, the dog killer.


But both cases show a celebration of scumbucket sports people, and it sort of provides a very (SAD!) context for this story of high school.

[awoke_in_2003]

108. I am a lifelong Steelers fan...

and it sickens me. I will watch no steeler game, nor buy any merchandise, until that SOB is off the team. Funny, if he was a black running back who got caught with pot (Bam Morris) he would have been released.

[reggie the dog]

209. thats because white people are not busted

for pot all the time if stopped with it. once i hit about 25 cops started being nice to me compared to before, i was a middle class white ADULT and no longer profiled as a teenage stoner. bam morris went to jail for pot that most whites in his same economic class would have never gone to jail for first due to racial profiling in who is stopped and second racism in who you just steal the weed from and let go and who you take down for it. i have had cops let me keep weed before in chicago because they searched us and were happy that we had no weapons so they gave us back our weed. how often would that happen to black people??

[blueamy66]

210. +1

and Vick....cause dogs are probably more important than female human beings these days.....

Hey, I love dogs....but our society is effed up, big time.

[JerseygirlCT]

8. I agree. And I would have hoped that even if the school's judgement

was shitty, the parents in the community would have a fit.

It's really a shame that rape is still too often viewed as a sexual crime - making the victim somehow complicit in something embarrassing - when it's a violent crime, period. There should be no shame in screaming about what happened to her from the rooftops, and at the least, embarrassing the hell out of anyone who doesn't support her.

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

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[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

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[gatorboy]

29. Did you join up just to defend someone guilty of assault?

Jesus Christ....

[flvegan]

31. It would appear that way, wouldn't it.

Amazing.

[Name removed]

65. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[WinkyDink]

74. Okay, "mere assault" pretty much sums up your grasp of decency.

[seabeyond]

78. he is a SIGNIFICANT amount of rape accustions are false, kinda guy.

damn they piss me off.

[flvegan]

81. "Mere assault" you say?

*pats head*

Run along now. Grownups are talking.

[Odin2005]

84. Rape is "mere assult" to you?

:puke:

[skepticscott]

99. Are you kidding?

Schools suspend or expel students for accidentally bringing a pocketknife or an aspirin tablet to school.

[reggie the dog]

212. a buddy of mine was expelled for a

20 dollar bag of grass in 1996

[MedicalAdmin]

261. Great point.

Where's the zero tollerance policy for rapists (etc.).

[uppityperson]

126. What is "quite the opposite" of assault? Schools routinely expel people for non-assault?

What is "mere assault"?

He could get an education in prison. Simply being expelled doesn't = no education.

[NoSheep]

141. "mere assault. In fact, quite the opposite." What do you mean?

[OhioBlue]

151. assault is not "mere". yes. he should be expelled.

His parents can home school him or find an alternative. His victim shouldn't continue to be victimized.

He isn't a 7 year old that pushed a kid on the playground.

[nashville_brook]

156. students are expelled for having Tylenol - ZERO tolerance for rape isn't too much to ask.

[DirkGently]

158. FNA.

[seabeyond]

160. fna? nt

[DirkGently]

172. Sound it out ;)

[awoke_in_2003]

174. short for "Fucking A"...

which translates to "Damn skippy" :) He is agreeing.

[DirkGently]

240. Damn skippy.

[Aristophrenia]

162. MErely assault -

he and two mates assaulted this girl - what the FCK do you think that is ? Whether or not it was plea bargained down to assault does not mean it was not SEXUAL ASSAULT you moron.

Holy shit.

[awoke_in_2003]

175. damn skippy...

and welcome to DU :hi:

[uppityperson]

136. Looks like it. All the posts are on this thread. Incredible.

[Yeshuah Ben Joseph]

144. Hey, leave Me out of this!

:(

[awoke_in_2003]

177. Is your middle name Henry?...

just wondering, as I hear "Jesus H. Christ" a lot :)

[MedicalAdmin]

262. The "H" stands for Harley.

Jesus is a biker.

[awoke_in_2003]

178. Another thing...

I was thinking about- if I was the son of God, and could perform miracles, I would have the largest penis on the planet. And, after raising Lazarus, I would have turned to his sister and said- "Want to see what else I can raise from the dead?" Yes, I know- I am a sick fuck :)

[Yeshuah Ben Joseph]

187. Well, I hate to brag......

But Mary Magdalene has no complaints, after nearly 2000 years of marriage. :hippie:

[awoke_in_2003]

192. once again, you make me chuckle...

just to let you know why I am a sick fuck- it is my dad's fault. We were in a restaurant not long ago. The waitress brought the check and said "Have a good one". My esteemed father said "I already have a good one, I want a bigger one". I have never seen any one turn so red in my life. It is true- once you pass a certain age you just don't give a fuck what others think.

[Binka]

202. Your Father Is Lewd And You Are No Better

Stick IGNORE in your ear.

[efhmc]

247. You are PROUD of this?

[mudplanet]

111. I'm with you here. The man was convicted of assault, not rape.

Especially in light of the fact that the SOP for prosecutors today is to charge people with virtually anything they think they can plausibly get away with charging them with in the fairly confident expectation of getting the person to cope a plea on a less serious charge because it's cheaper than getting a really expensive lawyer and fighting it (assuming the person can afford to hire any lawyer). Over 80% of people in prison today are there after a plea agreement.

I don't know that I'd want him in my high school after being convicted of assault, but that's not my call. Nowadays they charge and convict high school students of felonies for punching someone in the nose. Hell, half my classmates in high school would have been convicted felons before graduation. The vast majority of them went on to be decent people.

What I don't understand is the lack of common human decency and sensitivity on the part of the school admin in trying to force the woman to cheer for someone. Why make it such a big deal?

This is a classic case of DU members getting really steamed about a delicate subject and rushing to defend someone they perceive as a victim when, truthfully, we don't have the whole story. We can make all of the inferences we want, but we really have no idea what really happened.

[spooky3]

164. Were most of those people punched in the nose female? Were they punched by males?

Where is your empirical evidence to support the assertion in the first paragraph?

Prosecutors don't take on cases at all, if they don't believe they can get a conviction on any count. People don't plead guilty to a serious charge like assault if the evidence is weak.

I'd be willing to bet you several hundred $$ that this will not be this perpetrator's last offense.

[seabeyond]

165. one went to jail for a year, one case still pending last i heard, and then this boy.....

that is a lot of "mere" assault going on with one girl, not to mention going to hospital and having a rape exam adn rape kit used.

3 males

[spooky3]

166. thanks, but I was asking about the people that this poster was referring to

in his/her high school who allegedly punched people in the nose and went on to live good lives, etc., rather than to the case of Silsbee high school.

[mudplanet]

176. What planet are you living on? Poor people plead guilty to whatever they're charged with all the

time. If you're poor and black in Texas, you can go to prison even if you were five miles away from the scene of the crime in a hospital bed with two broken legs. No fucking exaggeration. They cut Blacks loose from Texas prisons nowadays on a regular basis after they've spent decades in jail and the DNA technology finally proves that, despite the fact that the guy pleaded guilty, he didn't rape/kill the woman. Why did he plead guilty? Well, the prosecutor told him that he'd plead guilty or he'd die in the electric chair, and that Black guy knew he wasn't kidding and the only way to survive was to cop a plea for life in prison. I guarantee you that every East Texas redneck that read about this said to himself and his buddies, "That n*****r's lucky he didn't get lynched."

I notice you don't provide a truckload of empirical evidence for your assertions. You just seem to "know" how prosecutors work and how the criminal justice system works. It's just "good sense." Yet you expect me to do a dissertation for you.

I'm not sure where the "were most of the people that got punched female" stuff comes from. Does it make a difference? Is it less wrong for a man to punch another man than a woman? Are women entitled to more legal protection than men? Males bully other males as much or more than they bully females. Jesus, the rate of rape in male prisons in this country is so high it has become an international human rights scandal. This whole thread is shot through with knee-jerk reactions to male on female violence. The only part of the issue I agree with is that the school administration had no business trying to force the woman to cheer. That's simply unfair, insensitive and reflects a lack of empathy. I think that's where MS magazine and the other sites I read came down on the issue as well. I have no idea what really happened and neither do you. If the guy raped the girl, IMHO he should have both his legs broken with a baseball bat. But I checked the stories on the internet and there really isn't any way to determine exactly what happened, either initially or in the subsequent events.

[spooky3]

232. If you want to bring power into it (as many who

commented to the original stories did), I'm not falling for the "poor and black in Texas" crap. There are many, many instances in which the athlete with college promise is treated FAR better than the cheerleader, who is "replaceable." In Texas, football is KING. For some top athletes, bad behavior is swept under the rug.

You are the one who is attempting to equate the facts of this situation to those of your self-reported high school experiences where people got punched in the nose. Let me spell this out for you as clearly as I can. There is NO parallel between a couple of guys getting in a scuffle and someone getting punched in the nose, and the facts reported in this situation.

Why are you so unable to to provide evidence to support your assertions? I can think of the usual reason - you have none. Anecdotes interpreted through a memory of someone with an agenda are not evidence. No one asked you for a dissertation. You were asked for evidence.

Your reaction shows me that there is no need to continue this discussion.

[mudplanet]

235. Imagine me putting my hands over my ears and repeating "la la la la" loudly

[AtheistCrusader]

197. I won't take that bet, but I'll raise you 'this probably wasn't his first either'.

[spooky3]

233. the reports said he had no prior record. But he's young, and not all problems

get reported, as is extensively documents. So I would capitulate to your raise.

[awoke_in_2003]

179. you're fucking kidding, right?...

Rape is one of the most under-reported and under-convicted crimes. He pled to assault- if he was only guilty of assault he would have pled to a lesser crime. (or is it "pleaded"? I can never remember)

[uncommon]

227. He took a plea deal to avoid worse penalties -

very common to plea down to a lesser charge. He is a rapist.

[uppityperson]

125. Yes, for assault.

[Dorian Gray]

149. He pled guilty

to assault of another student. That should be grounds enough for expulsion.

[JerseygirlCT]

4. Holy shit.

Like the old commercials say: get yourself a good lawyer. Then call the media.

That school should be far more afraid of her than of a losing basketball season. Far more.

[MedicalAdmin]

263. Hell yah.

Find the most bloodthirsty legal shark alive in the state, and then contact every media outlet in a 10,000 mile radius and hold a press conference right outside the school grounds so they can get a good picture of the school in the background.

Here's the headline. School Principal is OK with RAPE.

[seabeyond]

5. no means yes in todays world..... nt

[Name removed]

7. Deleted message

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[MineralMan]

9. Aw, geez. What is High School for, anyhow? Basketball?

That kid should have been dumped from the team and expelled from school. I guess we know where the priorities are in that school district, eh? Where was this, again? Oh, Smalltown, Texas. Sports are very important in Smalltown, Texas, I understand.

[CreekDog]

55. Basketball or Rape

I understand it was a very close decision. :eyes:

but rape lost, time to come together now! :sarcasm:

[awoke_in_2003]

180. Not in Texas...

in Texas, high school is for football- it is almost a religion down here. But i agree with what you are saying.

[Mudoria]

10. Very happy to sign that petition

This kid should have never been allowed on the court to begin with. I guess Wins trumps all.

[fishwax]

11. wow, that's disgraceful

:puke:

But not all that surprising, I guess. :puke:

[corpseratemedia]

12. she's been assaulted again IMO by the community

[ProfessorGAC]

13. Stunning

I cannot believe the school would allow such a thing. This is incredible.
GAC

[damntexdem]

14. Not only should Bolton be kept off any team, but ...

the entire school administration should be fired over this crap.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

17. actually there are serious problems that could arise from removing him

due to the fact that he is only 'guilty of' the lesser assault charge. Not knowing the team's code of conduct (or the school's or if one even exists), kicking him off the team would be a detriment to his college hopes or professional hopes (assuming he has any). To kick him off the team in this situation could yield a lawsuit...

i am not saying he SHOULD be on the team...but given today's society...i can see why they don't kick him off...

sP

[uncommon]

37. Being guilty of ANY assault charge should be enough.

I don't know about Texas, but around here the athletes had to keep their records SPOTLESS to remain on school teams. That's just good business on the part of the schools.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

58. not saying I agree with it...

but unless it is codified somewhere prior to the offense...it can be a problem to discipline a player by kicking him off the team...

sP

[revolution breeze]

101. Even for a band scholarship here.

One of the first questions on my daughters application for a band scholarship was "Have you ever been convicted of a criminal or civil offense which may show up on a public background check?"

[awoke_in_2003]

182. Well, in Texas...

if you play high school football you are golden- high school football is like church on Friday night here.

[awoke_in_2003]

181. fuck his college hopes. nt

[texastoast]

15. This is the little shit that should be kicked off the team

HOW DARE THAT SCHOOL DO THAT!

[femrap]

54. Gee I wonder how many more

women he'll rape? Maybe he'll escalate to murder since he just got a slap on the wrist. All of the parents at that school who have daughters should be up in arms over this.

When pleas are made, the victim has no say. Fuck this patriarchy. And fuck Texas 'justice.'

[awoke_in_2003]

183. Two accusations...

didn't stop Big Ben in Pittsburgh- he did it again. And will continue to do it, I am sure. I am pissed that he is still my teams QB.

[uncommon]

16. The rest of the squad should have stood in solidarity with her.

This is fucked up and sad but not really surprising.

[Renew Deal]

19. I agree

That's what I was wondering. What are the other kids doing?

[uncommon]

30. If that was my teammate, I would have been standing there next to her cold and silent with my arms

crossed.

[blueamy66]

213. What are they doing?

Honoring their HS sports' stars.....it's what HS is all about today!

[NashVegas]

146. +385,000

Does the school not recognize they have put her through a second forced submission?

[OhioBlue]

152. absolutely. n/t

[awoke_in_2003]

184. yes, they should have...

but we have become a very shallow, self-centered civilization.

[dogday]

20. She should say "how about I call out his name after he rapes each one of you?"

Bet that would change their decision.

[Spike89]

21. Tons of wrong in this, but no reason to make it seem worse

In no way am I sympathetic to the rapist and in no way do I think the principal made a single right decision. This is a pretty clean-cut case of right and wrong, yet the article is written to confuse and make it seem even worse. The case had not come to trial during these events. A convicted assailant is not the same as an accused assailant. That said, the principal is a total jerk.

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

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[texastoast]

26. But we DO have a conviction

"Bolton later pled guilty to a lesser assault charge." So what the fuck do you think that means?

That fucker DID IT.

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

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[texastoast]

32. You go ahead and defend that asshole

I won't.

"The State is happy he has finally come forward and admitted his guilt."

"Everyone makes mistakes."

http://www.kfdm.com/articles/former-39394-school-high.html

He's an asshole jock from East Texas. I know the type.

He's a William Kennedy Smith who didn't care about the meaning of "No."

And having summarized a number of depositions over a number of decades, it's easy now to spot the liars.

And, no, if I were accused and innocent, I would have pled not guilty. He plea bargained to save his ass.

[Name removed]

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[Name removed]

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[texastoast]

70. Everyone deserves due process

And this asshole jock got his. And he pled to a lesser charge because the fucker was guilty, and he did that on the advice of his lawyer.

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2010/10/17/yale-fraternitys-chant-reveals-depth-cultures-misogyny

[awoke_in_2003]

185. "Everyone makes mistakes."

love that line. I have made plenty of mistakes in my life, and played high school football. I never made the "mistake" of raping anyone. Might not be a popular opinion around here, but I am all for castrating rapists and child molesters. Don't use a tool right, take the fucking tool away.

[AtheistCrusader]

195. 'Slipped, tripped, fell down the stairs, and accidentally raped someone'

I'm getting pretty annoyed with this shit. They should have moved him to another school at the very least, this is a serious crime.

Since when is basketball more important than a victim of rape? I don't participate in many sports, so maybe I just don't 'get it' but GAMES don't seem this important to me. That guy's name should be mud.

[awoke_in_2003]

198. games aren't important...

to thinking people. But for 65% of the population, they are (yes, we are devolving as a species).

[chervilant]

254. No duh!

And, as has been noted upthread, rape occurs far more frequently than we know.

Contemporary research indicates that one of every three teens has experienced relationship violence. However, when 50 to 80% of teens report that they know someone involved in a violent relationship, one wonders if teens tend to underreport their own experiences with relationship violence.

[MedicalAdmin]

265. Castrate as in remove the balls.

Or castrate as in whip it all off?

I agree BTW. I've worked maximum security prisons and the recidivism rate with rapists of a sociopathic bent is almost 100%. And that rate goes up if they get therapy (strange but true).

The only options are lifetime incarceration or ... snip, snip and Bob's your aunt.

[awoke_in_2003]

279. Take it all. nt

[uncommon]

36. Bullshit.

Goodbye.

[seabeyond]

38. the strong majority of rapes aren't reported, so they didn't happen. the strong majority of rapes

reported aren't prosecuted, so they didn't happen. the majority of rapes that are prosecuted aren't convicted, so they didn't happen.

lots of rapes going on we can bury our head in the sand and ignore it. fuck it, just females being fucked against their will, not a deal. right? better for some, to pretend. it. didnt. happen.

[Name removed]

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[seabeyond]

76. "significant percentage that are reported are false." so full of bullshit and intent NOW clear.....

the fbi themselves say under 5% reported cases of rape are false.

that is a bullshit, male not wanting to take responsibility that, propaganda.....

give me a link showing a "significant" amounts of rape are false accustions. now.... a link. and not one of your white male being picked on sites....

i am so fuckin tired of the man crying about false accusation of rape when 1 in 3 girls are raped in army and military. 1 in 4-5 women raped nationwide.

bullshit bullshit bullshit

and clear evience of your agenda.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

104. Hey, how do you know this rapist is white?

Just saying.....

[seabeyond]

120. firstly, the rapist isnt and i didnt state he was

second, i was referring to the poster, not the rapist who told me there are a significant number of rape claims that are false. that statement is bullshit. i want a link. but i dont want a link from one of those, woe is me i am picked on white male sites that claim a significant number of rape claims are false.

just saying.....

[Chan790]

122. The rapist is black...

she means porton is white. I assume as much as well. I also assume he's a male and a humanoid and living somewhere in N. America and not an artificial intelligence. We assume much and it's not really relevant if he is or isn't any of those things.

Like all DUers, they shall be known by their words.

[awoke_in_2003]

189. and porton was tombstoned...

from his tone, I can guarantee he was a white republican christian male- they are the ones whining the loudest about being persecuted (and I say that as a white liberal atheist male).

[Chan790]

117. C'mon, you can't argue facts in opposition to intractable stupidity...

they'll counter with appeals to authority or their own facts. Sorry, I mean "facts".

Rape apologists sicken me. I hope I never become so jaded they stop sickening me.

[seabeyond]

121. thumbs up. here here, or hear hear. nt

[awoke_in_2003]

190. you won't...

rape is one of those crimes that most civilized folks find utterly repulsing.

[awoke_in_2003]

186. and just think...

of all the rapes that happen with married couples. Think it doesn't happen? I guarantee that it does. Especially in male dominated cultures.

[MedicalAdmin]

266. I can say for a fact that we have / had a patient who was raped in her marriage.

And I'm not talking about once or twice but daily for years. And this with the husband knowing that due to her phyical diagnosis that it was a) extremely painful for her and that b) she wouldn't get better until he stopped. FYI - her pastor, when she went to him for counciling, basically said, "shut up, lie down and spread your legs. He's the head of the household."

Care to hazard a guess of the religious affiliation of her husband?

[awoke_in_2003]

278. "guess of the religious affiliation of her husband?"...

sounds like all of them. All religions are male dominated- some to more degrees than others, but they are all mysoginistic.

[CreekDog]

57. i guess an assault is okay then

:wtf:

[Name removed]

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[gatorboy]

79. Yeah, they're all doing it there, right?

Porton, proud student at Assault High!

Or motto: No means Yes! Go Team!

[uppityperson]

134. Indeed, you said "quite the opposite"....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9361537&mesg_id=9363172
"But I wasn't aware that schools routinely expel people for mere assault. In fact, quite the opposite. "

[revolution breeze]

66. It means he ws convicted of a crime

A crime he plead guilty too. And, as he was serving his sentence, albeit probation, he was ineligible to be playing high school bassketball. His decision to play and his coaches decision to let him play jeopardized every other player on the team. There is no reason to cheer a convicted criminal. I don't care if he scored 100 points in a single game, he is no hero.

[Name removed]

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[uppityperson]

130. He did at least assault her by his plea. Defending a student who assaults another is so so progress

He plead guilty to assault

[uncommon]

35. Didn't the article say he took a plea deal?

:eyes:

[Name removed]

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[PVnRT]

44. Only one-third of rape cases are ever even reported

Only about half result in convictions, and defense attorneys are routinely allowed to basically call the accuser a slut during the trial. It's a serious problem in this country, and apparently, you have no problem with it.

I suppose now is when you start bringing up the phantom problem of those slutty bitches falsely accusing men of rape, right?

[Name removed]

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[awoke_in_2003]

191. I bet the number is lower than 1/3...

it is one of those crimes (the other being child molestation) that the victim feels so much shame about that they cannot tell anyone.

[Lance_Boyle]

257. phantom problem. right. never happens.

Certainly not at Duke. Not at Rutgers, either. :eyes:

[Odin2005]

85. Wow, you sound just like the assholes who defended my friend's rapist.

:grr:

[BlancheSplanchnik]

92. it's very interesting to watch you get real burnt over this guy and HIS rights.

VERY interesting that you display not one shred of concern for the young woman and her rights.

Fascinating to see you ignore what amounts to gang rape of the girl by the H.S. community and administration.



Makes me wonder what motivates your outrage on behalf of a boy who pled GUILTY to a lesser charge (he couldn't have done that because getting off with a lighter sentence is preferable than the risk of being found guilty in a trial, now could he?)

[BlancheSplanchnik]

96. It's very interesting to watch you get real burnt over this guy and HIS rights.

VERY interesting that you display not one shred of concern for the young woman and her rights.

Fascinating to see you ignore what amounts to gang rape of the girl by the H.S. community and administration.



Makes me wonder what motivates your outrage on behalf of a boy who pled GUILTY to a lesser charge (he couldn't have done that because getting off with a lighter sentence is preferable to the risk of being found guilty of rape in a trial, now could he?)

[texastoast]

25. Here's a petition where you can target the "educators" at Silsbee, Texas High School

http://www.change.org/petitions/view/tell_silsbee_high_school_to_apologize_for_treatment_of_rape_victim

Fucking idiots. HOW DARE THEY DO THAT TO THIS CHILD??

:grr:

[pinboy3niner]

27. Thanks for the link. Now 4, 684 signatures (goal=5,000). nt

[BlancheSplanchnik]

103. it says goal is 7500. So far, 5333 signatures.

I'm TRYING to sign. Can't remember my log in password. x(

OK, done!

[Moosepoop]

41. Just signed it, now at 4842 signatures. n/t

[H2O Man]

143. Thank you

[Initech]

34. We live in a truly sick society where something like this is allowed to happen.

[Greyhound]

40. 1000 years ago when I was in HS, we had a scumbag rapist murderer that got off*

through his parents money and name. After his third trip to the hospital they moved away. We (students) decided that he was simply not going to be allowed to go on after raping and strangling her.

Apparently today you don't even get kicked off the team.

*By got off, I mean he was convicted of lesser crimes and 'sentenced' to probation, counseling, a fine, etc.

[seabeyond]

45. that is the difference i see today from yesterday. it happened, but the majority knew it was wrong

and clearly expressed the wrong. the guy would have so been shunned in my day, by all of us. he would have had to move.

there is a study that empathy is 40% lower today amongst our youth than 30 yrs ago. desensitizing.....

[Greyhound]

60. An odd dichotomy, isn't it?

They are much less empathetic w/o any discernible sympathy, yet are unbearable whiners who give up at the first resistance.

None of this bodes well for our futures.

[antigone382]

167. Yeah, that's all of us.

You figured the next generation out. I wish I could show you all the kids I know who have been abandoned by one or both of their parents and struggled through a level of poverty that few of the baby boomers had to deal with or can understand. I know what it means to take a bucket bath. I know what it means to ration the rice so the dogs can eat too. I know what it means to work my ass off supporting myself and my family while going to school with no federal funding.

And for what? Even my professors are telling me that the system we've had for the last fifty years is coming to an end, that making a living resembling anything like what we've had in the past is going to be next to impossible with peak oil and all the other crises around the bend. One even subtly hinted that we may as well all drop out and learn how to feed ourselves off the little decent farmland that hasn't been clogged with subdivisions or drained of all fertility.

Do you not read the reports of increasing worker productivity in the face of decreasing wages? Do you think the younger generation is somehow exempt from the expectation to do more and more, for less and less, under increasingly hostile conditions? Whatever reports someone has read about empathy somewhere, it isn't what I've seen in my daily life with my friends. At least within my own group, we work hard. We support each other. We have a sense of responsibility towards each other and our world. We do the best we can in a world that makes less and less sense. I would never refer to another age group, older or younger, by such a blanket accusation as "unempathetic, unbearable whiners." It is insulting, ignorant, and childish.

Edit: to give you a sense of this generation: My campus has a monthly lunchtime session called Peanut Butter & Gender. Yesterday, an Afro-Columbian woman came to our campus to tell us of the displacement of her people due to the drug war, both singing and speaking through an interpreter (though I understood about half of what she said). The room was packed to the gills (and about half the students were wearing purple in solidarity with the GLBT movement). Two weeks ago, I went with some other students to tour a fair trade coffee facility. A month ago, a large group of students on our campus went to Washington D.C. to protest mountaintop removal. We have an entire building dedicated to student-initiated service projects, staffed and run entirely by college students--I tutor ESL once a week there. We are actively involved in trying to recreate a better world, and I am absolutely confident that we will have as much (or more) success, as any generation preceding us.

[seabeyond]

169. i am raising two boys. i am rootin for them. i understand the difference today opposed to

yesterday. my kids are lucky. they have a life so different from so many kids today. but, they have a life a lot like how i was raised. there is a grand experiment being done on your generation like we have never seen before. i am very concerned. my main issue today. this experiment is shaking up every foundation that is in place to raise healthy, happy, adjusted kids. and then we wonder why??? things are different today, than yesterday.

my boys and i have discussed this for years. literally years. as i have watched this develop. and they are only 15 and tomorrow, 13. and we have been addressing this for years.

i put the blame on my generation. i tell them. the difference? we were raised to know better. we chose not to follow the rules. they though, are not being taught to know better. how can they be better when they are not even taught.

yes

there is a difference in empathy today, both in putting yourself in another shoes, and in the more cognitive of thinking it thru. there is also an increase in narcissism.

i read about the study months ago. there just so happens to be a video on msnbc today.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/39784115#39784115

it is a reality. i see it. i listen to it.

and what you say is true also. no argument.

[antigone382]

170. It's not so much your study. I think you're coming from a place of concern for the next generation.

I'm not 100% convinced that this one study is correct, but I can't say it's false either. It's one study, and while I don't doubt it's relevant, I'm not ready to base too much of my opinion on its conclusions. I suspect the picture is a lot more complex. But I respect your experience and your opinion as well. I think the concerns you have are valid and worth exploring.

I just get sick of seeing broadbrush attacks (by others) and utter contempt leveled against an entire generation of people. A lot don't seem to realize that they sound precisely like the generations that preceded them when they talk about the younger generation. And they seem completely disconnected from awareness that we live in the same bleak, scary, and uncertain reality that they do.

And I apologize for getting angry and hijacking a thread on a very important topic. I'm completely outraged for that girl, and I hope the school gets shamed into at least apologizing to her.

[seabeyond]

207. well, i never have a problem going off on a tangent. nor getting angry, lol.

as you could see in many posts on this thread, talking to a particular poster. one of the fun things about threads is going off topic...

i dont know that i would give it to the other poster, but yes, i do see a contempt, and the funny, those which are leveling that contempt are the ones that created and allowed. but then, i suspect that is part of the issue of declining empathy is the unwillingness to understand the other.

i would also ask, that those that were studied 30 yrs ago, if their level of empathy has declined, too. i see it in the older generation, also. is it an overall decline of all of us, and not just the younger generation. i see that.

the biggest thing i have learned over the years, that i fight so often, is the conditioned us we are suppose to be. i refuse to let it stand. so often we are told, this is who we are, simply cause of our class, age, gender, religion.... and people take it as a holy truth and then behave in all kinds of ways, instead of embracing their authentic self and discarding societies conditioning of who we are.....

that is where i am coming from. a trend to ignore our authentic self is individually hurtful and hurtful as a whole society. kinda like a rape of young girl and the dismissal of the rape cause sports are so important and he just made a mistake, you know, boys will be boys.

[blueamy66]

215. I don't get you.

My Dad worked 2 jobs....no college education....just a work ethic. He put me thru Catholic school. I got a job with a union company, and they paid my tuition after my 2 year scholarship ran out.

I hear about college grads suing colleges cause they didn't get a job. Wah. Are you kidding me?

And why would these kids need a job? Their parents are housing, feeding and paying their mobile phone bills. Oh, but keeping extended families together is the "new" thing...I guess.

I work my ass off....my fiance has his paycheck garnished for child suppot....but guess what....we make the bills. I don't drive a new Mazda or have a Blackberry. I live within my means.

I feel real sorry for the next generation. They're a mess. Well, hey, unless they can shoot some hoops or catch a pigskin.

Again....wah

[seabeyond]

216. that is what i talk to my boys about. no use

looking at what isnt, they had better figure out how to do the new today, in a manner that is going to leave them the healthiest and most balanced. the world of unfair isnt gonna give a hoot, so it is up to them to figure out how to make this journey in the best of ways.

we also talked yesterday, how my generation saw a formula on how to walk life and here we are, approaching 50 and the rules have changed. what would have been, is no longer. and we dont have the same time to adjust to the new, like they will have

advantages, and disadvantages....

gotta figure it out cause we are the ones that will live it.

get a bad teacher? dont waste the energy bitchin about it, figure out how to learn and get the grade. the teacher isnt going to be effected by the bad performance, but the student will live with it.

[blueamy66]

219. Your boys are lucky to have you.

:-)

[seabeyond]

220. that is another thing i tell them.... bah hahahah

i have one turning 13 today, and in the happy bday song i sang to wake him up, about being a teenager, a kid no longer, better not give me shit, cause i can still take him down, and not gonna put up with his crap.....

lol lol

the loving mom i am.

but then, i equally tell them how lucky i am to have them. they sure are easy.

[blueamy66]

244. I'm serious.

I had WONDERFUL adoptive parents....my childhood was a dream.....I wouldn't change a thing.

Good parents are a gem.....be proud and caryy on :-)


on edit: Oh, and good luck with the new teeenager!!!!

[antigone382]

252. Extended families is more or less the norm from horticultural through agricultural societies.

The nuclear family is a somewhat flexible norm in foraging societies, and a pretty recent norm in industrial societies--though they are far more isolated than in foraging societies. In some ways extended families can have advantages, particularly for women, in terms of sharing both resources and the duties of childcare. I think it's totally unnatural to expect childcare to occur on an individual and not a community level, so I see some hope that an increase in extended families could change that.

Now, stepping back from that anthropological tangent, I don't understand exactly what it is you don't get, so I apologize if I'm misinterpreting your post. But I take issue with a few of your statements, as I understand them.

What percentage of students would you say sue their institution if they can't find a job? Is it anything approaching a significant amount? What makes you think that those kids who do stay at home aren't helping in other ways? What makes you think we have any other choice but to stay at home when $10/hour with no benefits is a good job? What makes "us" a mess, as opposed to society with an extremely high unemployment rate and a majority of jobs in the low wage service sector?

Furthermore, I'm glad you found a union job. I live in a right-to-work state, so that flat out isn't going to happen for me. If I could just pick up and leave I would gladly do it, but that isn't exactly an option in terms of savings--and it isn't because I don't make an effort. When I do make money I have responsibilities that usually take precendence over saving.

[blueamy66]

271. I don't have children, so I don't need any help with them.

So the extended family, foraging, agricultural, anthropoligical stuff doesn't apply to me or my "family"....as I no longer have any.

I don't know what percentage sue.....I brought it up cause I just heard a story about a student doing so....which I found both odd and amusing.

$10 an hour? Get some roommates. That's what I did.

As I stated in my post, my Dad worked 2 jobs. Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

The union job is gone. I quit as soon as I graduated from college. I live in AZ....a right to work state. I have a non-union job and sometimes don't sleep at night, worrying if I'll make all the bills. But I don't whine.....I make do with a 7 yr. old phone and a 7 yr. old car. And life is pretty good....for the most part.

My point is....kids these days have a sense of entitlement....they wants things, but don't want to have to pay for them.

[antigone382]

272. I have gotten roommates! I have worked three jobs! SO HAVE ALL MY FRIENDS!

We DO what we have to do to get by. How many kids do you know personally? What the Hell makes you think we don't scrape to get by? I'm glad you don't have kids, but what does that have to do with the point I was making about society in general? Don't you think it's narcissistic to apply your own experiences to everyone else? Thank you for the advice, but as I've stated previously, I have a fair amount of experience making it on my own and I'd prefer not to take advice from those who fairly openly hold me and my age cohort in baseless contempt.

Most of us haven't had our cars or our phones or our rent paid for. Maybe some of the most entitled ones have, but they're the ones who always have had that. Where the hell do you think most parents are getting the money for all the fancy fringes for their little darlings in this economy??? For that matter, most of the kids I know were totally abandoned at a young age by one or both of their parents. I didn't learn how to drive until I was twenty years old, but I made it, and I worked damn hard to make it, and so did almost every other kid I know.

I'm glad your father was able to make it working two jobs without a college education. To support yourself in any decent sense of the word one needs at least a master's degree anymore. And even then they're getting lucky. That's six years of funding, and in my experience it isn't coming from the parents. I guess we could just all work eighty hours a week, at however many jobs it takes (and I have known more than a few kids who did that to get by). Who cares about labor rights? What are we griping about anyway? At least they aren't beating us!

Sense of entitlement is a right-wing term. Generational confict is a tool of the elite. There's been someone whining about "these darn kids today" for thousands of years, all to the same effect. I would never, NEVER make broadbrush statements against the age-groups that preceded me. I respect the knowledge, struggles, and experiences of my elders. I will never speak ill of those following me either.

And to make another, seemingly obvious point, how do you expect people just entering their adult lives to have a completely realistic expectation of what life offers and what they have to put into it? Kids expecting too much from their jobs? Kids not fully realizing the burden of self-support? I'm sure no one ever had that problem in the twenties or the sixties or in Ancient Greece or any time, ever, except for now. And it's all because we're hopelessly lazy whiners destined to destroy history and fail all those great, upstanding people that came before us, who knew exactly how the world worked and what their place was in it from the moment they exited the womb.

[blueamy66]

281. Wow, how long did you take to to type this?

RELAX

[antigone382]

282. Yeah hold on, I'll go chill on my mom's couch snacking on cheetos while I play with my Iphone...

...that she bought me, because no one in my generation has a clue what it means to work hard or earn anything on our own, and we don't have any goals or dreams either...beyond the Iphone of course.

Try considering why I'm upset, instead of just telling me to relax.

[blueamy66]

287. Is it a leather couch?

just asking

[antigone382]

288. I'm defending my own demographic against some pretty ugly and baseless charges.

If that makes me crazy in your eyes, so be it. I think it's kind of funny that five brief paragraphs=raving lunacy, but whatever. You haven't refuted or acnowledged a single point I made, which kind of speaks for itself.

You responded to me saying you "didn't get me," so I have explained myself in as clear and detailed a manner as I can in a post on a discussion board. I didn't get upset until you started giving advice like "get roommates" or "get two jobs," as if I had no concept of how to survive, and hadn't made choices like that several times in the past. Do you have any interest in actually "getting me," or was this just a good opportunity to beat up on the young?

You could try acknowledging my experience, and admitting that modern youth aren't quite the stereotype some people make them out to be. Laughing at people when they get upset is pretty unempathetic, speaking of youth and empathy. In fact it's what childish bullies do. If personal insults seem like the mature response in your eyes, then I have nothing further to add.

[Greyhound]

200. I didn't say all.

I'm not a boomer.

The numbers counter your reported experience.

If that pisses you off, do something about it.

[antigone382]

250. What numbers? where?

More than one study that says we are less empathetic, what concrete proof do you have that we are, as a group, lazy, whining narcissists? What age demographic are the tea partiers, generally?

How many young people do you know? Have you spent any time figuring out what their concerns or experiences are? I'm working while getting an education in the applied social sciences with an emphasis on sustainability, and volunteering as much of my time as I can, both to activism and increasing my own awareness (and so is every other young person I come into contact with), so I'd say I am doing the most constructive thing I can.

I want to continue this discussion but I don't want to hijack this thread any further. I don't mind having a PM conversation with you if you are all right with that.

[JNelson6563]

246. Great post!

Thanks for taking the time to post all that. Well said!

Julie

[antigone382]

253. Thanks!

The most right-wing, anti-worker report can come out, and if it says anything about this generation being lazy, whiney, or expecting too much, some people just jump right on it. I've seen this happening for years on here. :wtf:

[uncommon]

228. Well if the rapist sympathizer in this thread was to be believed, that means he wasn't a rapist

silly. I am so fucking sick of rape and those who apologize for it.

[MedicalAdmin]

267. The same thing happened when /where I grew up.

Seems the guy in question kept falling down while out hiking in the deep woods. Time and time again.

Also, where I grew up this guy played hockey. He quit midseason. It seems the opposing players kept hammering his ass into and over the boards and his teammates just let it happen. As they say in hockey, there are only so many teeth in a career. Cops and prosecutors can only do so much. After that, to paraphrase, it takes a village to beat a rapists ass.

[revolution breeze]

42. Okay, I am donning my fireproof suit

First, I am the mother of three daughters, two of whom were cheerleaders for their varsity football, basketball and wrestling teams. I understand the pressure put of these girls and that is why, as a mother, I was present at every perfromance, every parent meeting, and every school board meeting where they discussed the squad. These girls work hard and are exploited simply for doing what they love to do. They are expected to be at every performance, every practice, support the school, set an example for others, and maintain a passing grade point average. When we had an incident where some girls were suspended from a performance (alcohol, semi nudity, internet) and my daughter was also suspended due to spending 3 days in ICU and missing practice, I fought the powers that be in order to move my daughter's suspension so it did not coincide with the other girls so it was not implied she had been part of the incident. I fault the cheerleader's parents for not fighting for her the way I fought for my daughters.

Also, most high schools have a code of conduct to which their athletes must uphold. Any conviction of a crime, especially rape or assault, automatically makes the athlete ineligible to participate in high school sports. If he is still on probation, he has not fully served his sentence and should NOT be on that basketball court. I am not saying get out the pitchforks and torches, but damn, where are the girl's parents and coaches, and why are they not supporting her?

[seabeyond]

46. dupe

[seabeyond]

47. i am saying, get out the pitch forks and torches and let our kids know allowed, and not allowed

a nice clear line. boundary on acceptable. they need it.

[jobendorfer]

90. Wow - did I read this right?

When you spoke of your daughter being in "ICU", do you mean as in a hospital Intensive Care Unit?

[revolution breeze]

97. Yes, Intensive Care Unit

She was admitted on Sunday morning for diabetic ketoacidosis. She missed practice Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. At Thursday practice we were informed the girls who had attended a party where alcohol was served to minors and who had posted pics on their MySpace page would not be allowed to cheer for ten days. My daughter was also told she could not cheer for one week because she had missed two practices. I told the coach, the principal and the assistant principal my daughter would miss a perfromance but not that Friday because it would be construed in our little town that she had been at the party in question.

[jobendorfer]

105. is "suspension" the right word, then?

When I first read your posting, it sounded like your daughter was being punished for being ill -- which did not seem fair.
I could understand "suspending" a student for blowing off practices to say, go to the mall ... but diabetic ketoacidosis is a pretty darned good reason to not be at a practice! (I'm diabetic myself. )

Now upon further reading, it sounds like the concern was, "Your daughter's been very ill, let's see how she does over the next few days before
we let her cheer again" -- which upon reflection is a reasonable and prudent response.

Goes to show you, how slow my comprehension is sometimes!

Cheers,

J.

[revolution breeze]

109. No, the coaches and I had talked about it prior to the meeting.

She was back spotting on Thursday when she returned to school. Miss one practice, you sit out first half. Miss two practices you are suspended but must suit up and sit with the coaches, miss three practices, your spot on the team is in jeopardy. You may not suit up but will sit with the coaches. Your "hearing" before the other squad members will be held after the missed performance. The rest of the squad will determine if you are allowed to remain on the squad. We had a girl with diabetes and a girl with epilepsy on the squad and they were not given any bias. Their squad was very competitive and the general feeling was if you want to be on the team, you take care of yourself and do not end up in the hospital. I had signed an agreement as had my daughter to follow these rules. My only point was she would not serve her "suspension" at the same time as the girls who got drunk and naked.

[femrap]

48. One of these days.....

a postal worker will see to 'Rakheem.'

[bobburgster]

49. Holy freaking crap!

This world is going to hell in a hand basket,

[revolution breeze]

52. I forwarded the link

to the Texas High School Athletics Directors Association who oversees high school athletics in the state. My e-mail requested an investigation because if the player has not served his parole or been given a waiver, he is ineligible to play. That makes the entire team ineligible for any championships and also makes the player ineligible for recruitment. A win may be a win, but when you have to forfiet those wins, you also have to explain how you let it happen.....

[seabeyond]

61. wow. arent you the clever person. thank you. let us know if you get

a response, please.

[revolution breeze]

63. I did get a response. They are not making any comments

on the case until it is finished the appellate process. They provided the link I posted separately. Very sad that this happened two years ago and it is just now considered news. Where were her parents and coaches in 2008 when they should have been fighting for her?

[texastoast]

150. I see that they did fight the school

And it is likely they did a lot of fighting before they filed suit. Lawsuits take over your life. I'm sure they will be glad to put it behind them as best they can.

[revolution breeze]

53. More info on this case

http://www.upnorthlive.com/news/story.aspx?id=521866

[seabeyond]

62. 92% says she should not be kicked off. and looks like "tried" to rape her?

didnt read the case....

i dont have time. if she didnt get raped, yea. tried is bad too.

[revolution breeze]

64. Exactly my point.

Regardless of if he was charged with rape or assault or whatever else he pleaded to, he is a criminal and should not have been on that basketball court until he had fully served his sentence (which included two years probation). Sounds like someone I would not have wanted playing on my son's team, what if he was having a bad day and decided to take it out on someone at practice?

[seabeyond]

91. per post #80, rape kit. so sounds like rape. nt

[WolverineDG]

98. Well, wouldn't ya know...he *was* suspended from the team

while the charges were pending & was only reinstated *after* a grand jury did not indict him.

Sounds like the school did do something.

dg

[uncommon]

229. He took a plea

admitting assault on a female student - he should not be allowed to play on a school sponsored team.

[WolverineDG]

284. Offered by the prosecution, which was afraid of a "not guilty" verdict

he'd already been "no-billed" by one grand jury.

Face it, if they had the evidence, they never would have offered the plea bargain.

dg

[gatorboy]

77. More on the case here:

http://www.silsbeebee.com/news.php?viewStoryPrinter=1411

[indepat]

80. MFers

Nuff said. :grr: :mad:

[Odin2005]

82. Why is that rapist not doing time? And SHAME on that school!

:grr:

[Scurrilous]

83. That's @#$% up. n/t

[JanMichael]

86. As an homage to the rape/assault/forgive crowd "Pepper".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4WUlNSx_Wk

At 2:13 it sums up my thoughts and what I think of "you".

[REP]

119. It's just the chorus backwards

2:33 is the ever-present football player rapist.

[JanMichael]

123. Typo. Thanks. 2:33 is what I meant to say. nt

[REP]

131. Great song

And the rape-apologists need to fellate an exhaust pipe.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

87. So, what is being DONE, publicly, in response to this travesty????

If there are no groups vocally protesting, contacting school officials, reporting to the media, then the issue dies a quick death and the status quo (Good Ol' Boys/ rapists win; women and girls lose. Again.)

Goddammit, women need to get US some advocacy groups as loud and effective as Color of Change and Act Up in the 90's.



this makes me really, really angry. Enraged.

[ThatsMyBarack]

89. A Lifetime Movie, perhaps?

I'd watch that.

Seriously though, this shit makes me :mad:

[RealisticDem44]

93. That's fucking disgusting

nt

[WolverineDG]

94. Looks like everyone got drunk at a party

Sheffield told KFDM News everyone involved in the case is a victim of underage drinking and an extreme lack of adult supervision.

"Because everyone had been drinking, it would have made it difficult to prove the allegations raised in this case," said Sheffield.

Lots of info here: http://www.kfdm.com/articles/former-39394-school-high.html

dg

[seabeyond]

95. per post #80, she was screaming for help and people tried to get in. the three jumped out

of bathroom window.

[seabeyond]

100. really big of a rapist not to have hard feelings against the girl he raped.....

isnt it...

[WolverineDG]

107. She agreed to the plea bargain

She got what she wanted.

dg

[Dash87]

114. "She got what she wanted?" What do you mean by that?

:(

♥

[WolverineDG]

153. Hello? He plead guilty. She agreed to the lesser charge.

:eyes:

dg

[Dash87]

248. Agreeing to a lesser charge doesn't mean she wanted that lesser charge.

The court system is complicated. Don't you think she would want him to pay for what he did?

♥

[seabeyond]

124. ya. you have a clue what it is to be raped then have it dragged out, questioned

and hoping beyond hope there is some punishment, maybe, possibly, kinda....

so it worked for her. he finally got something. is done.

whoooopeeee

and again, so nice he doesnt hold hard feelings against the gal he raped, huh?

[WolverineDG]

154. Oh please.

:eyes:

dg

[seabeyond]

157. retribution, threats or harassment of the victim

"The case has deeply divided the community of Silsbee and especially Silsbee High School." Sheffield strongly warns that any retribution, threats or harassment of the victim could result in 3rd degree felony Retaliation charges being filed.

"The family isn't happy with their daughter being assaulted or with anything surrounding the case, but they're satisfied the system is back on track," Watts told KFDM News during a telephone conversation Tuesday afternoon.

"The State feels it's a fair resolution for the victim, and the victim agrees," said Barlow. "I think it's a fair resolution also. The State is happy he has finally come forward and admitted his guilt."


___________________________

you make light of rape. it was not so innocent as you make it. that you would conclude as you do is beyond an oh please.

[WolverineDG]

238. Call me whenever you get experience in defending someone against a criminal allegation

doesn't matter what the allegation is. Get back to me when you do.

dg

[seabeyond]

239. because a rapist does not get convicted doesnt mean he didnt rape

in the eyes of the law, he isnt prosecuted, but that does not make him innocent of rape.

common sense. then again, some people dont get a basic concept.

[bettyellen]

283. she got to end the nightmare of trying to get justice in a case like this. ever think of that?

[uncommon]

230. Rape is not acceptable EVER - I don't care who is drinking.

I've done a LOT of drinking in my day, with a lot of men who were also drinking, and none of them were so overcome with alcohol that they raped me.

[seabeyond]

231. three on one girl, her yelling for help, them jumping out of window... i doubt

they were too drunk to know what they were doing.

sounds like the typical cop out

[MedicalAdmin]

268. If anyone is "overcome" with booze - they ain't a rapin' anyone.

The fact that booze was there tells me that our rapist wasn't just one of opportunity but of pre-meditation. He was looking for someone drunk to rape.

[and-justice-for-all]

102. That is some sick shit....

I hope she told them to go fuck themselves.

[nolabear]

106. Next thing you know his girlfriend will call wanting her to apologize to him.

I joke, but this is actually a horrible thing for her to be put through.

[seabeyond]

127. after court he was kind enough to state he holds no hard feelings for the girl he raped

just a misunderstanding.

[nradisic]

113. that is so wrong...

lawsuit?

[blueknight]

115. he is a lucky guy

if he did it to my daughter, i would sever his fucking head, and enjoy doing it

[prole_for_peace]

116. I am so lucky to live just a few miles away from Silsbee

(not) and it seems, from the comments I saw and heard about this case, most people here think that it was just a case of "buyer's remorse" on the girl's part. Cause this is Texas and sports is king and we all know that football jocks can do no wrong and it couldn't be rape because all girls would be more than happy to have sex with them. :sarcasm:

[seabeyond]

129. that would be why she was screaming for help, and the three went out a window.

i hear ya....

[Pacifist Patriot]

137. If I were her, I'd have no problem screaming his name....

followed by "...is a rapist" at the same decibel level.

Seriously though, this is beyond dreadful. Surreal dreadful.

[Devil_Fish]

140. She should have just screamed "Rapeist!" No one would have been able to tell the diffrence. NT

[JAbuchan08]

142. Someday we'll learn

someday we'll just feed rapists to the lions in the zoo and forgo the trial.

[scribble]

145. The school is at fault, too ...

... and she should sue her school first. Her school demonstrated by their actions that they sided with the rapist against her. The school has deep pockets. Her suit can establish a precedent that forces schools everywhere to take responsibility for the harm they contribute to, when they fail to protect victims from perpetrators and then side with the perpetrators.

She also should certainly sue her attacker, but neither he nor his parents probably have much that can be recovered.


sc

[Canuckistanian]

148. Something's back-asswards here

Why aren't the students rebelling against this asinine decision?

[blueamy66]

218. because sports in High School are much more

important than academics these days.....it's just freaking sad

[MedicalAdmin]

269. These days?

They've been more inportant than academics since before I was born.

[Clear Blue Sky]

155. This is nuts!

[DirkGently]

159. Unbelievable. Jesus.

[redirish28]

161. Poor girl victimized again.

[rasputin1952]

168. Absolutely sickening...

She should have walked off the court and gone home, asking her parents to to get in touch with a lawyer. These "authorities are little more than thugs, more worried about a stupid game than a young girls honor and dignity.

Reprehensible.

[bottomofthehill]

171. So he pled to a lesser charge.......

He, a high school athlete assaulted a young girl. That should al least require a restraining order keeping him away from her. He should be at another school, preferably a reform school. The school system has failed this young woman on many levels and my heart breaks for her.

[nadinbrzezinski]

188. What is he still doing in the team?

Oh never mind... Athletics are sick.

[Spike89]

199. Read the whole story

He is not "still on the team" he's not even in high school any more. I am not defending what the school did to the girl, that is indefensible. Nor would I ever attempt to drum up any sympathy for him. But the fact is the school did suspend him while charges were pending in 2008. The grand jury dropped the charges about 4 months later and he was allowed back on the court. It wasn't until 2 years later, in 2010 that he admitted to and was convicted on the lesser charges.
This is a horrible story of an abused girl, a stupid cruel policy decision by the principal, and a case of a major jerk of a young man. However, it isn't about the school letting a convicted rapist/assailant play basketball--they didn't even let him play while charges were pending to the grand jury.

[earcandle]

193. "unforgivable" true story

Unforgivable..true story.

[Sonoman]

196. Hey, it's Silsbee. So get over it....

for they surely fucking have.

Remember the guy who was dragged to his death in Jasper?

That's just the First Course in Silsbee.

If you have never been there, you just could not imagine.

Even now.


Sonoman

[Heywood J]

204. I hope she makes out like a bandit at the civil suit.

Whether or not he was eventually convicted of rape or another charge, the fact that she was forced to cheer his name is extremely poor judgment. This could be construed as intentional infliction of emotional distress, and I hope her lawyer makes the best of it.

[reggie the dog]

205. i guess the school figures that she

should have screamed out rakheem while she was being raped by him too.... winning at all costs... the bottom line is all that counts....where have i heard that before??? i thought such an uncaring social fiber was the sign of a barbarious people and unbefitting of our country.... what in the hell went so wrong??? for you older bloggers on here is this a sign of things getting worse again??? has it ever been better??? i am only 31 and this event is pretty well representative of the mindset i saw growing up in the suburbs of chicago

[seabeyond]

214. actually

70's and 80's i did see progression to better. advances in the equality, treatment, behavior and attitude of equality thru genders. in the mid 90's, i started seeing an anger. in the last decade i have seen a huge step backwards in that progression.

many posters want to say the time was no different. the attitude between male and female and ethics and integrity was different from then and now. it is not hurtful to recognize the changes. i suggest it is helpful and not about blame, but about healing and being more than who we are. but as a society, we dont seem willing to do that yet. we have not seemed to have hit bottom yet, lol.

but yes, i think all the isms are in worse shape today, than in the past. i see a lot of reasons for it, too.

[iamthebandfanman]

208. i bet if Rakheem had a bag of pot on him

hed be in jail

[texastoast]

243. +1

So glad our culture has its priorities straight, right?

:sarcasm:

[greiner3]

224. NOt to change the subject, but on a school line of thought;

Remember when that middle school girl was strip searched for giving a peer an NSAID? What is good for some is a felony for others.

[seabeyond]

226. What is good for some is a felony for others..... using, raping, demeaning, dehumanizing

does not seen to be an issue pertaining to our girls all around, which is the outrage of the thread and subject and guy that is defended for rape.

[Darth_Kitten]

225. Well, in case you want to receive daily email announcements from that fine school....

here's the link:

[e-mail]

[txlibdem]

234. The focus of the school was the sports team, no other consideration

This is a sick, disgusting situation and I feel nauseated because of this young girl's victimization -- double victimization, once at the hands of 3 of her fellow students and then again at the hands of the school administration. Why are none of the three students IN JAIL?!??!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?! As a father of a 23 year old daughter I have to say that this would have sent me over the edge.

The larger issue here is that this school had one priority: the sports teams. Instead of focusing on education. Instead of focusing on the safety and security of its students. Instead of focusing on what's right.

Sadly, this problem exists in every school in America. It's as if the schools view their role in society as a training ground for future members of the very lucrative sports industry: college sports teams and pro sports teams.

[seabeyond]

237. and then you have a frat house at yale chanting.... no means yes

i think it is beyond highschool, sports, or region and an issue across the nation with our young guys.

[txlibdem]

286. Our schools are too focused on sports

There are many examples of the move toward a patriarchal (or is it a Taliban) society in America. I'd never argue there aren't. But this issue was not about a single assault against a young woman.

There were three assaults and the only reason for the second and third assaults is because our schools prize sports players far too highly. The star athletes practically get away with murder because the school wants to keep the team on track.

Half the high school athletes shouldn't even be in their grade level (from my personal experience).

[Name removed]

236. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[LiberalFighter]

249. To bad incidents like these aren't considered when accredidation is considered.

Or somehow the principal or school administrator is fired if they fail to do the right thing.

[uppityperson]

259. THANKS MODS!

[Ilsa]

260. Thanks for posting. I'm in Texas, and I signed the petition,

along with my professional title. I'm a recover victim of rape.

I suspect the rapist will screw up and land in jail before the two years are up.

[pinboy3niner]

285. Let's hope it's before another victim is harmed

It's to our shame that discussion focuses on the he said/she said aspects, with scant attention paid the the very real, life-long trauma suffered by the victim.

:hug:

[KamaAina]

264. Why not just suspend the LeBron James rule and let the rapist right into the NBA?

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: