Justice Served

Justice best served by dropping charges against Cary-Grove essay writer

By Charles Keeshanckeeshan@dailyherald.comPosted Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Saying justice is best served by no longer pursuing the case, McHenry County prosecutors dismissed charges this morning against a Cary-Grove High School senior arrested over a violent essay turned in for a creative writing class.

(MG) If justice is best served by no longer pursuing the case, how was justice ever served by pursuing the case in the first place? ….

The decision, made formal in a brief court hearing, allows Allen Lee to graduate alongside his classmates this weekend without criminal charges looming and to again seek entry to the U.S. Marines after his prior enlistment had been canceled because of his arrest.

(MG) Good. Now the McHenry County States Attorney’s office can no longer be accused of not supporting the troops. …

It also ends a case that drew international attention to the county and sparked debate over students’ free speech rights.

(MG) I don’t think this case should be over. The fact of the matter is, that attendance at CG high school and completion of in class assignments has been proven to be hazardous to the health of at least SOME CG high school students. … As for free speech? Allen Lee didn’t SAY anything. He wrote something. …

“We knew this conclusion would be reached, either by motion, by trial or by agreement,” Lee attorney Thomas Loizzo said. “Fortunately for Allen, it was by agreement.”

(MG) Attorney Loizzo is an optimist. This case could have ended up any number of ways, depending on the mood, disposition, attitudes, etc of the judge that drew the case ….

Lee, 18, of Cary, was not in court today when prosecutors dropped the case. His presence was waived, officials said, so he could take his final exams.

(MG) Nice of the to let Lee take his final exams … just in case …


Authorities arrested and charged Lee on two misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct last month after he turned in an essay authorities say disturbed and alarmed his teacher, Nora Capron. The essay describes a shooting spree, drug use and stabbings. It ends with a comment that Capron could one day inspire a school shooting spree.

(MG) The essay also critiques the general attitudes of the American voting public … and FINALLY a newspaper gets it correct … it ends with a comment that CAPRON could one day inspire a school shooting spree. She has already inspired a lot of sound and fury … about nothing … sheesh .. .get that idiot OUT of the teaching of public schools … and look REAL closely at the university which granted her a teaching degree. An utter incompetent …

McHenry County State’s Attorney Louis Bianchi today stood by the decision to charge the student, but said his office opted to drop the case after determining Lee was not a threat to his classmates or teachers.

(MG) Of course he is going to “stand by the decision to charge the student” otherwise, it would be an admission of an idiot decision (which it was in the first place) … a clear case of covering one's buttocks

“Most importantly, it is clear to us that Ms. Capron has no desire for this matter to continue any longer,” Bianchi said. “As prosecutors, we have to consider the wishes of the victim as well as the likely result of what can be gained if the case were to proceed.

(MG) BUT … you see, Ms Capron, whether or not she desires the matter to continue … is NOT the one ultimately responsible for pursuing the charges … she filed the charges, the state’s attorney’s office is the one which pursues the charges … Ms Capron is most assuredly guilty of at least BAD JUDGMENT … and, to reiterate … just bad teaching in general ….

“(Lee) did admit to police he intended to alarm and disturb her,” Bianchi added. “I think it’s a fair assessment that they didn’t get along.”

(MG) Lee DID admit this? Says who? This is the first reference to such an admission that I’ve seen. Furthermore, Ms Capron needs to take responsibility for her own alarmedness and disturbedness, and, having once cried WOLF, well .. just don’t let her get into a position of sufficient authority to do this type of mischief again. …

Lee’s defense today continued to lay blame for the furor on the assignment itself. The assignment instructed students to write anything that came to mind in a stream-of-consciousness style, and without any self-censoring.

(MG) No shit. Mr Lee performed the assignment to the letter of the assignment, and as a result was arrested, had his life placed on hold, was subject to superficially deep scrutiny, and yet, had enough friends and supporters to create an uproar over the injustice of this farcical travesty ….

“There must be some accountability on the part of the school district or curriculum committee,” Loizzo said. “Had this assignment not been given, we wouldn’t be here. Be careful what you wish for, because you might get it.”

(MG) Thank you very much Mr Loizzo. Indeed, had this assignment not been given, we wouldn’t be here. But the assignment WAS given, and you ARE here … agency falls entirely on the dip stick shoulders of the teacher, her department head, the principal of the school, the police and the state’s attorney’s office. …

Defense lawyers also were critical of authorities’ decision to arrest and charge Lee before first speaking to the student and his family about the essay.

(MG) No shit. ….

Bianchi, however, said authorities acted quickly to ensure Lee had no weapons and could not act upon threats they believe the essay contained.

(MG) And just how certain were they that Lee had no weapons? How difficult is it to purchase weapons? At gun shows, for example. And hide them? And what kind of profiling had they done … again, the secret service did a profile of school shooters .. and quite frankly Mr Lee is highly unlikely to fall into that segment, that of so small splinter of society ….

As for the assignment, Bianchi said Capron frequently warned students that their writings must be “classroom appropriate.” Anything offensive, he said, would be reported to a guidance counselor or principal.

(MG) How would Bianchi know this? And just what the hell is offensive. There were previous reports of a student writing one of these and assuming the part of a mob hit man. Why wasn’t THAT considered to be offensive. And I’d REALLY like to see ALL of the other assignments .. offensive … just WTF is that all about? We’ve already gone down the censorship road … I find it offensive that CSI (among other TV programs) shows dead bodies in such off hand detail … I find it offensive that Rush Limbaugh preaches his racist eliminationist crap about liberals, feminists, etc, etc … I find Ann Coulter inordinately offensive … to any sense of journalistic integrity … check out the crap these kids play with on their video games, or watch on TV .. there is a WHOLE lot of offensive crap out there ….

“She responded appropriately to the situation, as did the principal, the school and the Cary police department,” he said. “The arrest and charges were clearly warranted.”

(MG) Bull fucking shit. If they were clearly warranted, then prosecution would have been clearly warranted, and prosecution was NOT forthcoming. …

Lee regrets the unwanted attention his essay brought to himself and his family, his lawyers said today, but does not believe he should apologize for following what he believes were his teacher’s instructions.

(MG) I side here with Lee.

“Allen wrote an essay that created an international disturbance,” Loizzo said. “That’s pretty creative. If I was the teacher, I would have given him an A-plus-plus on that assignment.”

(MG) No .. it was NOT the essay that created the disturbance. It was the reactions of … the manifestly incompetent teacher, and a series of ever higher-ranking authorities who were NOT willing to say .. .hey, this is an in-class writing assignment … not some manifesto … this is a popular, student-athlete, a patriot who would rather serve his country NOW than go to college … it’s NOT the essay, and it’s NOT the student who wrote it that are responsible for this mess …. It’s the people in charge who would not accept responsibility … and they should all suffer consequences … fire the teacher, demote the department head, suspend the principal without pay for a while … but, I won’t hold my breath waiting for any of those results to occur.