Glimpse of Sanity in the South, Judge won't reinstate Coach

[Tommy J]

Living here in the South I am hit with the religious zelots constantly. Once in a great while some sanity prevails. Essentially a Coach at the University of Georgia tried to force cheerleaders to attend bible study classes at her home. When a Jewish student complained the school fired her.

She went to court and tried to sue to get her job reinstated. Just yesterday a judge refused to reinstate her job but did not drop the suit. The article better explains the situation.


+=http://www.ajc.com/news/content/metro/1 ... cheer.html

Ex-coach fails to get job back
Judge cool to her claims against UGA

By ANDREA JONES
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/21/04

A federal judge told fired cheerleading coach Marilou Braswell on Monday that she doesn't stand much of a chance of winning her federal lawsuit against University of Georgia officials, though he stopped short of dismissing her case.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Thrash Jr. refused to reinstate Braswell's job as the case moves forward and said he "does not believe that she will prevail on her constitutional claims." Braswell contends that her religious feedom and civil rights were violated by her termination. Thrash said he could not give Braswell her job back unless he believed she had a good chance to win the case.

Former cheerleading coach Mari- lou Braswell says she was fired be- cause of religious discrimination.

Thrash will next consider a motion by defense lawyers to dismiss the case.

Braswell filed a civil rights lawsuit against university officials, the state Board of Regents and the UGA Athletic Association in August, after she was fired for reading aloud to the squad a statement about a Jewish cheerleader from Marietta who had made a religion-based complaint against her.

The cheerleader, Jaclyn Steele, alleged that Braswell had singled her out because she didn't share Braswell's Christian beliefs. Steele also said she felt pressure to attend Bible study in Braswell's home. The university placed Braswell on probation after investigating Steele's claims and later fired her for reading a prepared statement at cheerleading practice that said Steele's claims were false.

Thrash said the university could have construed Braswell's statement as a "serious act of retaliation" against the cheerleader.

Braswell "refused to accept the judgment of superiors and allowed her vehement disagreement to cloud her judgment and put herself in an adversarial position with respect to the administration at the university," Thrash said.

Braswell's lawyer, Hue Henry, argued that there was a culture of "pervasive religiosity" in many UGA athletic programs, including the football and baseball teams. He said Braswell was punished for actions that other coaches, including head football coach Mark Richt, were allowed without repercussion. Richt attends Christian chapel with many of his players and has led team prayers.

Thrash ruled that there were not "sufficient similarities" between the situations because Richt, unlike Braswell, was not the subject of a student complaint.

"The fact that a university administrator would apply policy differently to different coaches that come under different facts doesn't demonstrate that the policy is unconstitutionally vague," Thrash said.

Brian Webb, the lawyer representing the Board of Regents, UGA President Michael Adams and Athletics Director Damon Evans, said Braswell was fired for her lack of judgment in reading the statement, not for her religious beliefs. Reading the statement "was clearly retaliatory," Webb said.

Edward Tolley, the laywer for the Athletic Association, said he felt buoyed by the ruling.

"The judge plainly denied the motion," Tolley said. "The university's position on the law is correct."

Braswell, who wept when Thrash announced his decision Monday, said she will continue to fight.

"There are just so many things that the judge doesn't know," she said outside the federal courthouse. "I am confident in the truth."

[Wicked Pilot]

I'm glad about the school's action, and the judge's decision, but this cheerleading coach is just a small fish in a big ocean of intolerance.

[Tommy J]

I'm glad about the school's action, and the judge's decision, but this cheerleading coach is just a small fish in a big ocean of intolerance.

Yes. I didn't mention it earlier but it still is disturbing to me that other coaches are having 'prayers' before the games. While it's not mandatory personally I think it still inappropriate for a publically funded school to do such.


I guess small steps.

[Stormbringer]

I'm glad about the school's action, and the judge's decision, but this cheerleading coach is just a small fish in a big ocean of intolerance.

True but against that ocean every little bit is welcome.

[Darth Wong]

I'm glad about the school's action, and the judge's decision, but this cheerleading coach is just a small fish in a big ocean of intolerance.

Yes. I didn't mention it earlier but it still is disturbing to me that other coaches are having 'prayers' before the games. While it's not mandatory personally I think it still inappropriate for a publically funded school to do such.

I guess small steps.

I saw an article a couple of years ago about how proud one Alabama high school was to be having their very first interracial high school dance. It's a step in the right direction, but you still have to shake your head at how far behind everyone else they are.

[Joe]

Braswell's lawyer, Hue Henry

This cocksucker again? Between Braswell and that dirty rat Harrick, it seems like this guy crawls out of the woodwork every time the athletic association has to purge itself.

[Lord MJ]

The reason the coach was fired was not because of holding bible studies with the team, which is perfectly fine as long as it's a choice.

She was fired because she commited an act that was considered retaliatory.

While I have a huge beef with "no-retaliation" policies which often amount as mechanisms to shield oneself from consequences of thier acts, the coach had no business reading information about the complaint to the entire team.

[Tommy J]

I saw an article a couple of years ago about how proud one Alabama high school was to be having their very first interracial high school dance. It's a step in the right direction, but you still have to shake your head at how far behind everyone else they are.

Living here in Atlanta you have know idea absolutely how backward things are:

Here are my major Nitpicks after moving here from Los Angeles

Everything is backwards:
(Major differences from what I consider the 'norm' being LA)

1. Religion is a part of seemingly everyone's life. Small example: Cable Channel 2 -- is 24 hour religious programming. Cable Channel 2 in LA is KCBS. The religious programming is in the 100's.

2. They were actually seriously debating putting the confederate flag on top of the state capital. Biggest debate in LA is traffic and the 405 fwy and whether to expand the 101/405 connector. (for those that don't live there it's a major fwy connector between two large parts of the city)

3. Sports are a big-big deal. I'm so fuking tired about hearing about the ATL Braves and the Falcons -- which both suck. In Los Angeles, Sports are kinda an after thought unless the Lakers are winning. And even after they win a championship everyone forgets about it 2 days later.

4. Buying Alcohol is a big deal in the South: a) You cannot purchase it on Sundays unless you go to certain types of bars b) You have to go to a specific store to buy it and it's called of all things a 'package store' c) Some counties are 'dry' meaning they don't sell hard alcohol at all. d) The laws are all screwed up. Some 'bars' can sell it 24/7 because they've been designated as a private 'club' others cannot sell it on Sundays because they're a 'restaurant' and some bars can sell it until 2:00 a.m. and others until 3:00 a.m. because they serve finger food.

vs.

Los Angeles. You can buy hard liq virtually anywhere -- a grocery store, a liq store etc.

Only time selling alcohol is prohibited is between 2:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m. 7 days/week.

Restaurants/bars/nightclubs etc. are all classified the same.


5. They actually put a sticker inside science text books here for some highschool students that states "evolution science is just a theory" versus Los Angeles in highschools they have after school Gay/Lesbian Groups right next to the chess club.


6. People say yo'all ( I hate that too)-- in Los Angeles they say what's crackin -- or how's it hangin

7. Despite integration most nightclubs are still divided by race and this is by choice mind you. In Los Angeles, it's all about if you're driving the right car or not. In other words don't show up in Bev Hills to a club in your 1990 Honda or no one is going to talk to you.


8. Everyone in the South vacations in Florida. In Los Angeles everyone vacations in Vegas, Hawaii or New York.

9. In the South you've left the city in 15 minutes. In Los Angeles you've left the city dependent on traffic from 2-5 hours.

[Tommy J]

The reason the coach was fired was not because of holding bible studies with the team, which is perfectly fine as long as it's a choice.

She was fired because she commited an act that was considered retaliatory.

While I have a huge beef with "no-retaliation" policies which often amount as mechanisms to shield oneself from consequences of thier acts, the coach had no business reading information about the complaint to the entire team.

That's understood. However this is a step in the right direction for the Bible beating South.

And why wouldyou have a problem with 'retaliation policies' --not to get too far off topic though.

[Joe]

Living here in the South I am hit with the religious zelots constantly. Once in a great while some sanity prevails. Essentially a Coach at the University of Georgia tried to force cheerleaders to attend bible study classes at her home. When a Jewish student complained the school fired her.

Well, she wasn't forcing her, technically. Her policy was that no one would be forced to attend. But obviously Steele (who I knew in high school, interestingly enough) felt discriminated against, and she acted accordingly. My best guess is that Braswell was discriminating against Steele without even knowing what she was doing; she probably just didn't realize how uncomfortable she was making Steele with her prayer meetings. This is the case pretty often with racial or religious prejudice; people aren't that way out of intentional spite or malice, that's just the way they are and they either don't see it, or don't see anything wrong with it.

Of course, you have to remember that this is cheerleading we're talking about here, and cheerleading is one of the most political student activities you can engage in. There's favoritism, backstabbing and jealousy all over the place. This could simply be a case of sour grapes based on the fact that Steele didn't make the football cheerleading squad. Either way, Braswell had no business reading off that statement to the squad, and I'm glad the athletic association handed her her papers afterwards.

I also bet the athletic association is thrilled that this didn't spread to the football program, because there's no doubt Richt is deep into the Jesus crap with his players, much more than Braswell. It could have opened a huge can of worms that would have spread to other programs as well, and not just in the Southeast.

[Darth Wong]

And people wonder why I have no respect for college sports programs.

[Lord MJ]

The reason the coach was fired was not because of holding bible studies with the team, which is perfectly fine as long as it's a choice.

She was fired because she commited an act that was considered retaliatory.

While I have a huge beef with "no-retaliation" policies which often amount as mechanisms to shield oneself from consequences of thier acts, the coach had no business reading information about the complaint to the entire team.

That's understood. However this is a step in the right direction for the Bible beating South.

And why wouldyou have a problem with 'retaliation policies' --not to get too far off topic though.

The idea behind 'retalliation policies' is sound, protecting an accuser from being harm by the accused or somebody else.

But in execution, it opens up a huge potential for abuse, and also serves as a legal shield from consequences of a person's actions that they would face.

We live in an age where people through accusations around willy-nilly, causing harm to whoever they accuse, while they sit behind the 'non-retalliation' shield.

Simply confronting a person about dubious accusations could be considered 'retalliation' under the current laws.

In this case however, the coach had no business reading the letter allowed, and deserved to be rebuked.

[Jalinth]

And people wonder why I have no respect for college sports programs.

You mean the basketweaving 101, steroids, and various payoffs weren't enough for you?

The sad thing is that this mentality has pushed down to high school sports from what I've read. At least in college you have a statistical shot at making the pros (not very good, but it is more than a pipe dream) and you are an adult, so have some personal responsibility to take for your decisions. High school kids are essentially at the pipe dream level (so few ever make the pros that it is close to the lottery level - lots of luck) - so you trade your future (education, health, you name it) for current "glory". They are also much more vulnerable to coaches and peer pressure - high school kids are considered minors for a reason.

When high school coaches are paid $90K to $100K (while teachers are paid $30 to $40K) and the high school stadiums are two or three times larger than our local A-league soccer stadium, parents and schools priorities are in the wrong place.

[Joe]

2. They were actually seriously debating putting the confederate flag on top of the state capital. Biggest debate in LA is traffic and the 405 fwy and whether to expand the 101/405 connector. (for those that don't live there it's a major fwy connector between two large parts of the city)

Debating putting it up? Fuck, it was already there to begin with. It was the state flag. They were debating taking it down, and they were ultimately successful, for a time. Legislation passed changing the state flag, which was one of the factors that lost Roy Barnes, the former Democratic governor of Georgia and a man I deeply respect, his job. The guy who replaced him, Sonny Perdue, promised there would be a voter referendum where the decision of whether to bring back the Confederate flag or to go with the 2001 design that replaced it would be made, but instead of doing that, this Confederate flag, the old one that was abandoned in 2001:



was scrapped for good and would not be voted on in the referendum. They replaced it with this one:



Which is just the original Confederate National Flag with the Georgia state emblem and "In God We Trust" pasted on it.

The referendum came in March 2004, and the second flag above won over the 2001 design. So that's the state flag now.

So after three years of bullshit, we still have a Confederate flag, and this one slaps non-religious people in the face, too, black Georgians are still pissed off by it (as they goddamn well should be), and the people who had voted for Sonny Perdue because they thought they would get their old flag back are pissed off, too. You see "Sonny LIED!" bumperstickers and signs pretty commonly and my guess is Perdue is going to lose his job in 2006 over this fiasco, because these people will not forget.

3. Sports are a big-big deal. I'm so fuking tired about hearing about the ATL Braves and the Falcons -- which both suck. In Los Angeles, Sports are kinda an after thought unless the Lakers are winning. And even after they win a championship everyone forgets about it 2 days later.

Oh, come on, there's no way this is unique to the South. Hell, football and baseball are both imports from the Northern states! Sports are a big deal all over the country.

4. Buying Alcohol is a big deal in the South: a) You cannot purchase it on Sundays unless you go to certain types of bars b) You have to go to a specific store to buy it and it's called of all things a 'package store' c) Some counties are 'dry' meaning they don't sell hard alcohol at all. d) The laws are all screwed up. Some 'bars' can sell it 24/7 because they've been designated as a private 'club' others cannot sell it on Sundays because they're a 'restaurant' and some bars can sell it until 2:00 a.m. and others until 3:00 a.m. because they serve finger food.

b) is false; there may be some counties where this is the case but throughout most of the state you can buy booze in grocery stores and gas stations.

But really, despite archaic laws on the books about buying booze, if you want to get shitfaced, you'll have no trouble doing it assuming you're over 21. Trust me on this, I live in Athens, GA, a drinking town with a football and academics problem.

5. They actually put a sticker inside science text books here for some highschool students that states "evolution science is just a theory" versus Los Angeles in highschools they have after school Gay/Lesbian Groups right next to the chess club.

Yeah, that would be Cobb County, where I went to elementary school, middle school, and high school. Represent, yo. *sigh*

9. In the South you've left the city in 15 minutes. In Los Angeles you've left the city dependent on traffic from 2-5 hours.

I take it you're unfamiliar with GA-400, then.

[Tommy J]

Living here in the South I am hit with the religious zelots constantly. Once in a great while some sanity prevails. Essentially a Coach at the University of Georgia tried to force cheerleaders to attend bible study classes at her home. When a Jewish student complained the school fired her.

Well, she wasn't forcing her, technically. Her policy was that no one would be forced to attend. But obviously Steele (who I knew in high school, interestingly enough) felt discriminated against, and she acted accordingly. My best guess is that Braswell was discriminating against Steele without even knowing what she was doing; she probably just didn't realize how uncomfortable she was making Steele with her prayer meetings. This is the case pretty often with racial or religious prejudice; people aren't that way out of intentional spite or malice, that's just the way they are and they either don't see it, or don't see anything wrong with it.

That's the problem. People here in the South 'don't see a problem with it.' And it is a problem. I don't care if it's Football, basketball, or the damn chess club.

At a public institution that receives a portion of my tax $$$ they shouldn't be praying before, during, or after any activity. If someone wants to pray, they can do so silently w/o a prompt from the administration/teacher/club organizer or coach.

[Joe]

At a public institution that receives a portion of my tax $$$ they shouldn't be praying before, during, or after any activity. If someone wants to pray, they can do so silently w/o a prompt from the administration/teacher/club organizer or coach.

Limited funds are supplied by the state to the Athletic Association for certain academic assistance programs run by the association for student athletes. This funding is considered distinct from any aid that the state would conceivably provide to directly fund athletic programs.

Aside from these funds, the athletic association receives none of your tax dollars. The UGA Athletics Association is required by law to be self-supporting and funds itself primarily through donations and sales of football and basketball tickets.

[Robert Treder]

Oh, come on, there's no way this is unique to the South. Hell, football and baseball are both imports from the Northern states! Sports are a big deal all over the country.

Sports are big, but not that big here. They seem to be more popular with people 30+ than they are with the younger generation.
In high school and college, people are much more interested in cars, interpersonal relationships, and video games/tv than in sports. Though to be fair, aside from age, it depends on culture. White kids seem to like sports more than other groups, but to be honest, I haven't bothered to get to know very many white people my own age, so I can't really say for certain.

[Kuja]

Former cheerleading coach Mari- lou Braswell says she was fired be- cause of religious discrimination.

She was.

Her own.