Posted on 05/16/2007 6:33:13 AM PDT by presidio9
A Sonoma County judge ruled Tuesday that a Mormon high school student who sued after being disciplined and then mercilessly teased for using the phrase "That's so gay" was not entitled to monetary damages. Superior Court Judge Elaine Rushing said that while she sympathized with 18-year-old Rebekah Rice for the ridicule she experienced at Maria Carrillo High School, her lawyers had failed to prove that school administrators had violated any state laws or singled the girl out for punishment. "All of us have probably felt at some time that we were unfairly punished by a callous teacher, or picked on and teased by boorish and uncaring bullies. Unfortunately, this is part of what teenagers endure in becoming adults," the judge wrote in a 20-page ruling. "The law, with all its majesty and might, is simply too crude and imprecise an instrument to satisfactorily soothe deeply hurt feelings." The case filed by Rice and her parents in 2003 brought widespread attention to a three-word phrase that some teenagers use to mean "stupid" or "uncool," but has come under attack as an insensitive insult to gay people young and old. The Rices argued that a teacher at Maria Carrillo High violated Rebekah Rice's First Amendment rights by sending her to the principal's office and putting a note in her school file. During a trial in --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- February, Rebekah Rice testified she said "That's so gay," as a response to other students asking her rude questions about her Mormon upbringing. Rushing said the school district was not liable for monetary damages because the law under which the Rices brought the lawsuit specifically excludes schools. In addition, she said that school officials are given wide latitude in deciding how to enforce non-discrimination provisions of the state education code. "The decision to impose graduated discipline on Rebekah is one that falls squarely within the discretion of the defendants," the judge wrote, adding that it didn't make sense to have the referral stricken from the girl's school record since she graduated last year. The lawsuit also accused the public high school of having a double-standard because, they say, administrators never sought to shield Rebekah from teasing based on Mormon stereotypes. It further alleged the Rices were singled out because of the family's conservative views on sexuality. In Tuesday's opinion, Rushing rejected each claim, going so far as to suggest that the Rices had created a miserable situation for Rebekah by advertising their dissatisfaction with the school's handling of the incident during her freshman year. "If the Rice family had not told everyone that Rebekah had been given a referral for saying 'That's so gay' then no one else would have know it either, and she would not have been referred to as the 'That's so gay girl,"' the judge wrote. Neither the Rices nor their lawyer returned telephone calls seeking comment from The Associated Press. Rushing concluded her ruling by saying that even if the judicial branch could not help in this case, the Rices have other options, including running for school board or lobbying to change state laws. "Through their many activities at their children's schools, plaintiffs have generated a great deal of dialogue about the extent to which our schools should become involved in traditionally non-academic subjects such as morality, religion, sexuality and politics," she said.
Sovereign immunity. It also protects the schools from being charged with negligence for allowing pederasts to have access to youngsters.
Religious kids are expected to lump it when people insult them. But gays are a protected class.
Oh, that's so gay!
Time to take back the word "gay." As Donald Trump was not allowed to TM the phrase "You're fired," homosexuals should not be allowed to "TM" "gay."
That's really something how everyone assumed "That's gay," refers to homosexuals.
In other words the alcoholic judge feels that this girl, coming as she does from an intact religious family, is not a high risk to shoot up her school.
Ping to you!
I will be a-pinging tomorrow - planned to today but did hours of gardening in the hot sun and that did me in!
>>”All of us have probably felt at some time that we were unfairly punished by a callous teacher, or picked on and teased by boorish and uncaring bullies. Unfortunately, this is part of what teenagers endure in becoming adults,” the judge wrote in a 20-page ruling.<<
Hmm it would be one thing if the courts always ruled like that but this case was a double standard.
ping???
Maybe they teased her because she was Mormon. Wouldn’t doubt it.
Yeah. Pathetic. If it were gays suing Christians, it’d be a whole different story.
What a cop out. Cowards.
“When a few classmates razzed Rebekah Rice about her Mormon upbringing with questions such as, “Do you have 10 moms?” she shot back: “That’s so gay.”
That phrase landed the high school freshman in the principal’s office and resulted in a lawsuit that raises this question: When do playground insults used every day all over America cross the line into hate speech that must be stamped out?”
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=18230
[The AP article from March talks at length about gay stereotypes being hate speech. Today’s article talks mainly about about how the monetary damage won’t be awarded. This past Feb, a Bay Area Reporter article had these additional details:]
“The non-jury trial began last week in Sonoma County Judge Elaine Rushing’s courtroom. In the lawsuit, which names teacher Claudine Gans-Rugebregt, Principal Mark Klick, and Assistant Principal Frances Kass Mason, the Rices said school officials retaliated against Rebekah Rice because of her parents’ involvement in protests against a Day of Dialogue held at Maria Carrillo High School in 2000.
Filed in December 2003, the lawsuit seeks an order for the school district to comply with education code regulations it allegedly violated, notification to every parent that the school failed to inform them about the showing of the R-rated film, unspecified monetary damages, and removal of the referral from Rebekah Rice’s school record.”
http://www.ebar.com/news/article.php?sec=news&article=1581
1) What are these parents thinking? They kept their daughter in this religiously hostile school long enough to graduate?( as reported in the Salt Lake Tribune). Are they brain dead?
2) Of course the school singled out this girl for punishment. It is OK for children to bully religious children with explicit taunts, but not OK for children to use the ambiguous phrase, “That’s so gay!” ( with multiple meaning only one of which is an anti-gay epithet).
3)>>doug from upland wrote>>:” >>Kids are mean. Life is tough. We all suffer during our lives. People in black robes should not be passing out other people’s money for that.>>
This isn’t about hurt feelings. It is about the gay agenda being foisted on all of us. It is also about hostility by government school educrats toward those who believe in Christ. We are not yet fighting a civil war ( thankfully!) and the **only** way to peacefully defend the right to be a Christian at all, is to take it to court,,,and,,,that means suing for **money**.
Also...the taxpayers should not be forking over any money. The individual teachers and principals should lose their homes and have their bank account emptied. Perhaps then these homosexual promoters will get the idea.
4) Also,,,would you trust you credit card, social security number, and car to anyone of the administrators or teachers at this girl’s school? Well,,,if it gives you pause to do that, then why would anyone trust their child to these duplicitous people?
Finally, Government schools are not reformable. They have been taken over by the Liberal/Leftists and homosexuals. They are preaching the doctrines of the Church of Leninist-Liberals. It is child abuse for any Christian to subject their little children to this continual indoctrination.
If Christians **really** wanted to get even, they would forget the courts, they would do as Mormons do. They would encourage tithing from **everyone** ( rich and poor). They would send their sons, daughters, and retired couples out on 2 year missions ( at their own expense) to preach (in all neighborhoods of the U.S. both rich and poor) repentance and salvation through Christ.
If Christians really gave a twit about what is going on in government schools, they would organize with their neighbors to elect representatives dedicated to CLOSING them DOWN! Christians would immediately remove their own children from government cesspools, and open very low cost or free schools.
If we are to rescue our nation this is the **only** way to do it.
This above is a general statement about government schools and I am NOT, NOT, personally insulting anyone on this board who might happen to think government schools are wonderful and send their children to these cesspools. So...please,,,government defenders out there in message board land please do not hit the abuse button, complaining to the management that I have **personally** insulted you or bruised your tender feelings.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I wonder if any or all of these people are gay? In our government schools gays are thick as flies on dog droppings.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.