Image courtesy of Ms. Magazine Blog
As you can imagine, the Supreme Court receives thousands of case requests each year.
In the end only about fifty cases make the cut and get the full attention of the Supremes.
That’s a lot of people who receive a big fat NO.
This year, one of those people was a high school student whose NO was especially tragic.
In October 2008, a 16-year-old cheerleader from Texas, known only by her first name Hillaire, was raped by Rakheem Bolton, a basketball player at her school. Bolton pled guilty to a lesser crime of assault. His prison sentence was suspended, and he came back to the school, continuing to play basketball.
During a game, Hillaire and the cheer squad were instructed to cheer for him, saying
Two, four, six, eight, ten, come on Rakheem, put it in.
Hillaire stepped away from the squad and refused to cheer for her rapist. She was kicked off the squad.
Hillaire and her parents sued the school, saying that the administration violated Hillaire’s right to freely speak – or in this case, not to speak. The 5th District Court of Appeals heard the case but ruled against Hillaire, explaining that
As a cheerleader, [Hillaire] served as a mouthpiece through which [the school district] could disseminate speech – namely, support for its athletic teams…This act constituted a substantial interference with the work of the school because, as a cheerleader, [Hillaire] was at the basketball game for the purpose of cheering.
To add insult to injury, the court ruled Hillaire’s lawsuit to be frivolous and ordered her family to pay the school district’s legal fees – an amount totaling 45,000 dollars.
Hillaire appealed to the Supreme Court, but earlier this month the Court refused to hear the case, leaving the initial decision in place.
How does the Court’s decision illustrate the treatment of rape victims in the US? And what do you think this decision means for a student’s right to speak – or not to speak – in school?
