Alabama Student on Student Sexual Harassment and Rape Bait Case to Proceed, per Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the district court for Huntsville, Alabama blundered when the magistrate judge decided to allow personnel from Sparkman Middle School the authority to adjudicate on the alleged violation of Title IX laws in the Alabama school. 14-year-old student, alias Jane Doe, alleges by way of counsel that Sparkman Middle School officials violated both the 5th and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution, claiming that her rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and to equal protection under the law were neglected. Doe also complained of a Title IX violation, and mentioned emotional torment in the form of malicious intent and ultimately disregard for her well-being.
Doe was sexually violated in a middle-school bathroom after a teacher’s aide, Ms. June Ann Simpson, suggested to entice one of Doe’s fellow 8th-graders, CJC, who had previously made lewd comments to Doe. Doe, circumspect of CJC’s obscene behaviors, including proposing the two engage in sexual acts, confided her suspicions to Ms. Simpson. The aide advocated for Doe to deceive CJC in an effort to apprehend a potential sexual offender. The method of institution included Doe luring CJC into a restroom and beginning to engage in sexual activity, wherein school officials would intervene and impede the impending sexual assault; however, the implementation of this strategy was lamentably, disastrously flawed. Discrepancies about the precise location arose, the personnel involved in the arrangement gathered at the incorrect bathroom to conduct the sting operation. Once there was clearly a divergence from the original scheme, school personnel immediately arrived at the site of the sexual assault, hoping to rectify the situation, but Doe had already been sexually violated.
Despite the occurrence of sexual violence, the representatives of Sparkman Middle School chose not to pursue the case any further, merely carting off the perpetrator to an alternative establishment. The Board behind this decision was allotted the authority to make the call on whether or not the bathroom sting investigation violated school sexual harassment policy as well as Title IX policies; Sparkman Middle School representatives decided to drop the case, and also shredded all evidence documenting the occurrence, including testimony and statements from Ms. Doe made following the incident.
Subsequently, Doe’s performance and effort in school quickly plummeted, demonstrated by her poor grades, mental instability, and her loss of interest in social activities. She brought her case to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, who accused both the Huntsville, Al. Sparkman Middle School Board, as well as the District Court for Huntsville, of extreme disregard for a student’s well-being and violation of Title IX.
Per Title IX statutes originating in 1999, student sexual harassment cases involving other students is subject to Title IX provisions preventing sex-based discrimination in an school or educational context, if sufficient evidence exists to prove the depths and pervasiveness of the harassment. Claims against violators of Title IX laws must include five essential legal elements including knowledge about harassment by a school employee or official, with the official or employee being attached to an educational system receiving Title IX funding, and in light of objectively offensive and pervasive sexual harassment that the school officials exhibited indifference to documented incidents of harassment that prevented the victim from continuing his or her education.
11th Circuit Moves Alabama Middle School Rape Bait Case Forward
