Political correctness gone awry

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High school senior charged after writing 'disturbing' essay

Associated Press
Published April 26, 2007, 9:51 AM CDT
CARY, Ill. -- An 18-year-old high school student faces disorderly conduct charges for writing an essay that authorities described as violent and disturbing.

Allen Lee, a senior at Cary-Grove High School, was arrested near his northern Illinois home after penning the in-class writing assignment Monday. The assignment had been to use poetic conventions to express ideas and emotions.

"At the very last sentence, I said that this teacher's method of teaching could lead to a school shooting," Lee said Wednesday. He said he'd intended the entire essay as a joke.

After reading the essay, his teacher alerted the school's principal, and district officials reported it to the police.

"The writing assignment depicted violence, was disturbing and inappropriate, but did not contain any specific locations or names," Cary police Chief Ron Delelio said.

Police have declined to release a copy of the essay.

"It raised some flags," said Jeff Puma, a District 155 spokesman. "I think, in this case, the teacher chose to err on the side of caution and, I think, rightly so."

Allen Lee has been removed from the school and faces disciplinary action, Puma said.

Lee, who was arrested Tuesday, posted $75 bond. He is scheduled to appear in court June 18.

Albert Lee said his son was not suspended or expelled but is attending classes somewhere else for the time being.

"I understand what happened recently at Virginia Tech," said Albert Lee, referencing last week's shooting of 32 students by gunman Seung-Hui Cho. "I understand the situation."

But he also defended his son as a straight-A student who was following instructions for the assignment.

Ed Yohnka, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said an essay done for homework would ordinarily be "protected speech."

"He turned it in to a teacher. He didn't post it online," he said. "It's not a communication between him and the broader world."

On Wednesday, students at the school showed support for Lee with a petition drive to let him back into school.
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I can't believe some DA is actually prosecuting him. I would think the court would bounce this on First Amendment grounds so fast it would make his head spin.
 
Apparantly this is the legacy of VT. Having given up on trying to take away our 2nd Amendment rights, they've decided to go after our 1st Amendment rights instead.
 
God Bless America

...where the good citizens are all so happy to give up their rights.

Looks like we can dismantle the Amendments from the top down. Who needs them anyhow?:barf:
 
I think that if the teacher found it that disturbing, she should have spoken to the student, or contacted the parents FIRST, offered guidance help, addressed the students comments and that is it. I wouldn't have just let it go, especially if there was a pattern of disturbing writing the kid might have genuinely needed some help or someone to talk to. Prosecuting a kid for writing something is complete crap, I hope the ACLU tears them a new one. It's too bad how schools have steadily gone to crap the last few years, they take out drivers ed, teach "alternative history" and basically push whatever liberal agenda is popular down the kids throats. I was lucky enough to go to elementary and middle school on base in Norfolk, VA during the 80s, they taught us about patriotism, told us about heroes like Washington, Franklin, Patton, and Nimitz, encouraged us to work hard and stay out of trouble, but when we did get in trouble they dealt with it, and if it was bad enough for mom to come in I was really in for it, and god help me if my dad was home (6 month cruises at a time in the Navy).
 
It looks like "disorderly conduct" means "You didn't actually commit a crime, but we don't like what you said/did/wrote so we'll trump up some bogus charges and make you pay for a lawyer." :barf:
 
I hope he sues the living hell out of the school the city and the teacher. Its things like this that make me value the understanding I get from my dogs, as it is apparent that people have lost all ability to reason....
 
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