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This is disturbing.
Jan. 19th, 2003 03:38 pmCalifornia High Court to Decide If Student's Poetry Is Criminal
A teenager who was expelled and convicted of a crime for writing violent poetry at school has taken his case to California's Supreme Court in a dispute over the limits of free expression in a post-Columbine world.
Five of the seven high court justices agreed Wednesday to hear the case involving George T., who was 15 when he was expelled from Santa Teresa High and prosecuted under a criminal threats law.
[...] In the boy's poem, he threatened to bring guns to school and kill students. His attorney, Michael Kresser, said the boy's prosecution was an exaggerated response to student attacks like the 1999 Columbine High bloodbath that left 15 people dead.
[...] In the poem, titled "Faces," he wrote: "I slap on my face of happiness but inside I am evil! For I can be the next kid to bring guns to kill students at school."
He gave the poem to at least two students, one of whom notified a teacher, who in turn called police. Authorities later found other works that read: "Probably I would be the next high school killer."
His juvenile court conviction was upheld by an appeals court, which found it reasonable to assume the boy could immediately act on his writings.
A teenager who was expelled and convicted of a crime for writing violent poetry at school has taken his case to California's Supreme Court in a dispute over the limits of free expression in a post-Columbine world.
Five of the seven high court justices agreed Wednesday to hear the case involving George T., who was 15 when he was expelled from Santa Teresa High and prosecuted under a criminal threats law.
[...] In the boy's poem, he threatened to bring guns to school and kill students. His attorney, Michael Kresser, said the boy's prosecution was an exaggerated response to student attacks like the 1999 Columbine High bloodbath that left 15 people dead.
[...] In the poem, titled "Faces," he wrote: "I slap on my face of happiness but inside I am evil! For I can be the next kid to bring guns to kill students at school."
He gave the poem to at least two students, one of whom notified a teacher, who in turn called police. Authorities later found other works that read: "Probably I would be the next high school killer."
His juvenile court conviction was upheld by an appeals court, which found it reasonable to assume the boy could immediately act on his writings.