Saturday, April 28, 2007

Writing an essay is an arrestable offence?

Only under some very stretched law:

"High school senior Allen Lee sat down with his creative writing class on Monday and penned an essay that so disturbed his teacher, school administrators and police that he was charged with disorderly conduct.

"I understand what happened recently at Virginia Tech," said the teen's father, Albert Lee, referring to last week's massacre of 32 students by gunman Seung-Hui Cho. "I understand the situation." But he added: "I don't see how somebody can get charged by writing in their homework. The teacher asked them to express themselves, and he followed instructions."

Allen Lee, an 18-year-old straight-A student at Cary-Grove High School, was arrested Tuesday near his home and charged with disorderly conduct for an essay police described as violently disturbing but not directed toward any specific person or location. The youth's father said his son was not suspended or expelled but was forced to attend classes elsewhere for now.

Cary Police Chief Ron Delelio said the charge was appropriate even though the essay was not published or posted for public viewing. Disorderly conduct, which carries a penalty of 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine, is filed for pranks such as pulling a fire alarm or dialing 911. But it can also apply when someone's writings can disturb an individual, Delelio said.

Source

As Taranto comments: "What in the hell are police doing arresting someone for a piece of writing merely because someone was "disturbed" by it? This is the most obvious violation of the right to free speech we've heard of in a long time".