Someone posted on the football board that the fate of Bonfire rests with the courts handling the current Bonfire litigation. Does anyone know the current status of this?

I do not know the state of the litigation. What I do know is that the fate of On-Campus Bonfire rests in the courts. Bonfire is going and growing off campus.

Bonfire litigation proceeds on two separate tracks.

Plaintiffs' suits that were not part of the settlement with the Redpots have been consolidated in state court in Bryan. They are on hold pending the outcome of an appeal running through the federal system--one that could overturn the state's liability cap and remove indemnification of certain Texas A&M officials.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments last month. Most of the press reports focused on the wording of the plaintiff's pleas, e.g., that Texas A&M officials knew Bonfire was dangerous and allowed it to proceed anyway. They failed to tell readers the reason for those arguments.

As it stands now, plaintiffs (and their lawyers) can collect no more than an aggregate total of $500,000. That's chicken feed--hardly worth the effort of all those high-priced attorneys.

If the Court of Appeals finds that the state (i.e., Texas A&M) deliberately masked a known danger, it might find legal basis for allowing damage awards in excess of the state liability cap. It also might declare Bowen, Sutherland, Thompson, Kibler, et. al., personally liable.

In other words, without success in federal court, expect the plaintiffs' lawyers to tell their clients to settle in state court.

The Fifth Circuit generally issues opinions within 60 days of oral arguments. Whatever side loses will probably petition to have the arguments reheard by the entire court, rather than the three-judge panel that sat last month.

It's not over, not even close. But at least there's a road map.

While those who are busy building off-campus bonfire may not be particularly concerned with the litigation, those like me who want to see the tradition return to campus are very interested.

President Gates, at the prompting of the state attorney general and system lawyers, has decreed that no decision on the resumption of Aggie Bonfire will be made until all of the litigation runs its course.

[This message has been edited by DualAG (edited 11/17/2005 10:32a).]

Thanks, DualAg.