Reply #8: the ruling was correct [View All]

[toastbutter]

1) he was never found guilty of raping her
2) he was found guilty of assault

Tt has not been adjudicated in civil or criminal trial, that he is in fact a rapist.

People can repeatedly refer to him as such, but it doesn't make it a fact, let alone a judicially recognized fact. She has every right to say what she wants about the guy (w/in the bounds of libel and slander laws) and she has every right to quit the cheerleading squad. She does not have the right to use her position in the cheerleading squad to protest him, any more than it would be a free speech case if she wore a "close Guantanamo" pin on her cheer uniform and was told to remove it.

While acting AS a cheerleader, she must cheer for the team. She has no 1st amendment right to choose who on the team who not to cheer for.

As for the continual reference to this guy as a rapist, all I have seen are allegations. Not everybody accused of a crime is in fact guilty. I know that's a shocking concept. Rapists are scum. But I don't know if this guy is or isn't a rapist.