CARY ILLINOIS – COPS GONE WILD: Bogus Disorderly Conduct Charges Dropped Against Teen Who Wrote Essay – Police Chief Ron Delelio “An Utter Moron”

WOODSTOCK, ILLINOIS - The disorderly conduct case against a high school student who wrote a disturbing essay has been dismissed.

[ BCN: See original post CARY ILLINOIS - COPS GONE WILD: Student Charged With 2 Bogus Disorderly Conduct Charges By Crazed Cops For Writing Essay As Instructed Wants His Computer Back - Police Chief Ron Delelio ?An Utter Moron? HERE ]

Prosecutors said they dropped the charges partly because the teacher at Cary-Grove High School in McHenry County didn’t want the case to continue.

As CBS 2’s North Suburban Bureau Chief Katie McCall reports, Cary-Grove senior Allen Lee will now be able enlist with the U.S. Marine Corps in 5 months.

Just a month ago, his dream of becoming a marine was nearly shattered when he was charged with disorderly conduct for alleged threats he made in a school essay.

On Wednesday, the McHenry County State’s Attorney?s office dropped the charges.

The essay included discussions of mass murder and sex with the dead, and warned a teacher not to be surprised if she inspired the first shooting at the high school.

Lee’s teacher, Nora Capron, was alarmed by Lee’s essay and called her department chair, who then spoke with Cary-Grove Principal Susan Popp.

Popp called police and signed the disorderly conduct complaint shortly afterward, prosecutors said, and Lee was arrested on April 24. The arrest jeopardized the straight-A student’s dream to join the Marines and forced him out of school for a period of time. He has been back at school since May 4.

On Wednesday, the McHenry County state’s attorney’s office dropped the charges, saying Lee did not pose a threat to himself or others. He may now pursue his planned career in the Marine Corps.

Lee’s lawyers said all along it was the assignment and not the student’s words that were to blame.

Attorney Dane Loizzo said, ?A little bit more care should be placed in the types of assignments that we are giving these children.?

In the assignment, students were told not to censor themselves. Lee addressed his teacher in his essay, saying not to be surprised if she inspired a school shooting.

?It would seem to me that the teacher would then put in there do not write anything that refers to sex drugs alcohol or violence,? attorney Tom Loizzo said.

McHenry County State?s Attorney said he decided to drop the charges, but still believes the school did the right thing. ?Freedom of speech is not absolute,? he said.

Bianchi said had they not brought charges and a tragedy took place at the school, this would have been a very different story.

?It was always about safety his safety the teacher’s safety the school’s safety,? Bianchi said. “The arrest and charges were clearly warranted by the Cary Police Department. ? The police were obligated in the circumstances to do whatever legally possible they could to ensure the safety of Mr. Lee the students and the school.”

Lee has been back here at Cary Grove since May 4th and will graduate this Saturday with his class.

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CARY ILLINOIS – COPS GONE WILD: An 18-Year-Old High School Student Made A Big Mistake Last Week. He Did His Homework. Police Chief Ron Delelio Needs A Copy Of The U.S. Constitution, Quick!

CARY, ILLINOIS ? An 18-year-old Cary, Ill., high school student made a big mistake last week.

He did his homework.

As part of his creative writing class, Allen Lee was told to write an essay expressing emotion.

He did just that. And apparently did a heck of a good job. Because the essay raised such emotions in his teacher that she took that matter to school officials who, after some discussion, called in the cops.

And the young author soon found himself under arrest on a charge of disorderly conduct.

Disorderly conduct? For doing his homework?

Cary police officials describe the essay as ?violently disturbing? but say it doesnt target any person or location.

So Lee faces a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine.

According to the Associated Press, Cary Police Chief Ron Delelio said Wednesday disorderly conduct is a charge often filed for pulling a fire alarm or dialing 911 when no emergency is present. But he said it can also apply when someones writings disturb an individual.

Seriously? Lets hope no one in Cary ever gets hold of a Stephen King novel.

In reaction to the Virginia Tech massacre, we have become, for the moment at least, overly sensitive to any reference to violence in a students writings.

And while one can make a case for vigilance, imagination alone is no indication of a future maniac. Its a combination of traits that should be worrisome.

According to the school, Lee is an excellent student. And police say he has never been in trouble with the authorities.

Violence is a part of life and literature. Authors have used violence in novels and short stories for centuries.

One wonders what those blessed with the sensibilities of today would make of the early writings of Edgar Allan Poe or Ambrose Bierce. What reaction would a young Robert Bloch or Anne Rice face? Even a junior Ernest Hemingway or Norman Mailer might find their intentions questioned if any of their macho attitudes regarding women, drinking and fisticuffs were called into question.

No one is saying this kid is a future literary lion. But he could be. And so could many other young wordsmiths who must be confused right now about exactly how much of their imagination they are allowed to use.

Schools are supposed to spur creative thinking. They are not supposed to homogenize every student into plain vanilla.

If a students writing is genuinely disturbing, a teacher should certainly contact school officials. And perhaps the child should be evaluated by a counselor or medical professional not to suppress his creativity but only to determine if there is any real problem.

But you dont have a kid arrested simply for exercising his First Amendment rights, using his imagination and doing his homework.

In other words, lets show some common sense, folks. We shouldnt let our fears scare the imagination and creativity out of our kids.

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CARY ILLINOIS – COPS GONE WILD: Police Charge High School Student With Two Totally Bogus Disorderly Conduct Charges For Writing Essay

CARY, ILLINOIS ? Police Thursday released portions of an essay used to charge a Cary-Grove High School student with disorderly conduct, leaving several experts puzzled at an arrest based on such schoolwork.

Asked to write about whatever he wanted in a creative writing class, would-be Marine and honors student Allen Lee, 18, described a violent dream in which he shot people and then “had sex with the dead bodies.”

But then he immediately dismissed the idea as a mere joke, writing, “not really, but it would be funny if I did.”

A second disorderly count accuses Lee of alarming first-year teacher Nora Capron by writing that “as a teacher, don’t be surprised on [sic] inspiring the first CG shooting,” an apparent reference to Cary-Grove High.

Lee said Thursday he was “completely shocked” to be arrested Tuesday for his essay, especially because written instructions told kids not to “censor” what they wrote.

“In creative writing, you’re told to exaggerate,” said Lee. “It was supposed to be just junk. . . .

“There definitely is violent content, but they’re taking it out of context and making it something it isn’t.”

“I have no intention of harming anyone,” said Lee, who has been transferred to an alternative school setting. “I miss school.”

Lee’s father, Albert Lee, who emigrated from China 32 years ago, said his son has a clean academic and police record. He, too, insisted his son’s essay was not threatening but authorities “drew a conclusion before the investigation. They didn’t want to do the investigation.”

However, the father would not comment on whether he believed authorities acted quickly because his son is of Asian heritage, as was the Virginia Tech campus shooter.

Family therapist Michael Gurian, author of The Minds of Boys, said Allen Lee needs at least good counseling, but “If he was arrested solely based on those words, I don’t see that as the most helpful course.”

Bernardine Dohrn, director of Northwestern University’s Children and Family Justice Center, laughed when she heard the charge.

“You might want to talk to him, talk to his parents, but the criminal justice system seems to be the last thing you’d want,” said Dohrn, a former Weatherman leader who lived for years as a fugitive.

Mike McInerney, former head of the Cook County Public Defender’s Juvenile Court office, said he “wouldn’t be happy” if his son wrote such words but “I wouldn’t criminalize free expression. . . . I don’t think it’s going to hold up criminally.”

[ BCN: Pictured, Cary Illinois Chief Ron Delelio. New Bad Cop News section ?The Ron Delelio Hall Of Shame? will soon be a regular feature on BCN, named in honor of the chief who allowed this particular travesty of justice to occur. ]

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CARY ILLINOIS – COPS GONE WILD: Student Arrested For Essay’s Imaginary Violence – Police Chief Ron Delelio Sucks!

CARY, ILLINOIS ? In Cary, Illinois, a high school senior by the name of Allen Lee was arrested for his disturbing essay for a creative-writing assignment he turned to his teacher last Monday. The words written in his essay such as, ?it would be funny to dream about opening fire in a building and having sex with the dead victims,? brought a disturbing and inappropriate take on the school. As of now, Allen, 18, faces two disorderly conduct charges over his creative-writing assignment. But, is the charge placed upon Allen one that is just, because according to the assignment, it stated, ?write whatever come to your mind. Do not judge or censor what you are writing.? And thus, as Lee believes as well as father that he simply abided by the assignment?s directions and did nothing to astray from the topic. In addition, Lee says, ?In creative writing, you?re told to exaggerate?It was supposed to be just junk?.There definitely is violent content, but they?re taking it out of context and making it something it isn?t.? This leads to question whether his arrest was based on the affects of the Virginia Tech shootings and how the shooter was inspired by his appalling writings, or was it simply an outburst pertaining to Allen?s ethnicity. Nonetheless, Puma believes that the content of Allen?s essay ?went beyond that.?

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CARY ILLINOIS – COPS GONE WILD: Allen Lee’s Essay

CARY, ILLINOIS ? Blood sex and Booze. Drugs Drugs Drugs are fun. Stab, Stab, Stab, S?t?a?b?, poke. “So I had this dream last night where I went into a building, pulled out two P90s and started shooting everyone?, then had sex with the dead bodies. Well, not really, but it would be funny if I did.” Umm, yeah, what to wright about?? I’m leaving to join the Marines and I really don’t give a F… about my academics, so why does the only class that’s complete Bull Shit, happen to be the only required class?enough said. The model citizen would stay around to vote in new board member to change the 4 years of English policy, but no one really stays around to vote for that kind of local crap, so whoever gets there name on the Ballet with a pretty face gets to do what the F… ever they want with local ordinance. A person is smart, but people are dumb selfish animals. We can’t make rules for ourselves so we vote others to do it for us, but we can’t even do that right, I meen seriously, Bush for President? And our other option was John Kerry who claimed to parktake in Vietnam Special Forces missions that haven’t been declassified?. F…… Bull Shit. So Power Flower Super Mario. Pudge, hook, rot, dismember “Fresh Meat.” Mostly new/young teachers are laid back, and cooperative with students as feedback and input into the curriculum and atmosphere. My current English teacher is a control freak intent on setting a gap between herself and her students like a 63 year old white male fortune 500 company CEO, and a illegal immigrant. If CG was a private catholic school, I could understand, but wtf is her problem. And baking brownies and rice crispies does not make up for it, way to try and justify yourself as a good teacher while underhandedly looking for complements on your cooking. No quarrel on you qualifications as a writer, but as a teacher, don’t be surprised on inspiring the first cg shooting.

Authors Note: This production of writing is done in the most accurate manner I can depict of the original writing. Grammar and spelling mistakes are included at the best accuracy possible. The first phrase in questions is in fact a Green Day song. The second reference to drugs is in relation to the schools history of drug problems. I am personally clean of all controlled substances. The statement in quotes is done so as a non personal statement as I would have done in reference to a character for a story. The reference to the gun P90 is from a video game, combined with a reference to necrophilia as a comment regarding a seriously messed up situation. A situation such as the rape of villagers during a raid by U.S. troops in Vietnam. I really do not care too much about by continuing academia as in relation to grades. I do however believe on continuing my personal education, and I am actually still working for my classes. My views on the graduation requirements explain themselves. The reference to Mario and Pudge( a DOTA character) are completely random as is this essay. The reference to a person being smart and people being dumb is based on a quote from “Men in Black.” I generally do believe the public opinion is best. The rest of the essay is rather self explanatory, the main statement in question I have already released a comment online about. I request that all information I have released is read together, and nothing given separately or as an excerpt as the administration has seen fit to do.

On an additional note, I have completed the MEPS (Military Entry Processing Station) examinations, and yes a psychiatric evaluation is included in the process. If I’m qualified to defend the country, I believe I’m qualified to attend school.

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CARY ILLINOIS – COPS GONE WILD: Crazed Police Department’s Totally Bogus Criminal Charges Against Student For Essay Cause U.S. Marines To Cancel Enlistment Contract

CARY, ILLINOIS ? One violent, profanity-laced English essay later and Allen Lee’s future with the Marine Corps appears to be over.

Because of pending criminal charges stemming from his essay, Lee’s recruiter told him Friday evening that the Marine Corps has discharged him from his contract, said Sgt. Luis R. Agostini, spokesman for the Marine Corps Recruiting Station Chicago.

”Basically he is no longer an applicant to become a Marine,” Agostini said.

Police Thursday released portions of an essay used to charge a Cary-Grove High School student with disorderly conduct, leaving several experts puzzled at an arrest based on such schoolwork.

Asked to write about whatever he wanted in a creative writing class, would-be Marine and honors student Lee, 18, described a violent dream in which he shot people and then “had sex with the dead bodies.”

But then he immediately dismissed the idea as a mere joke, writing, “not really, but it would be funny if I did.”

A second disorderly count accuses Lee of alarming first-year teacher Nora Capron by writing that “as a teacher, don’t be surprised on [sic] inspiring the first CG shooting,” an apparent reference to Cary-Grove High.

Lee said Thursday he was “completely shocked” to be arrested Tuesday for his essay, especially because written instructions told kids not to “censor” what they wrote.

“In creative writing, you’re told to exaggerate,” said Lee. “It was supposed to be just junk. . . .

“There definitely is violent content, but they’re taking it out of context and making it something it isn’t.”

“I have no intention of harming anyone,” said Lee, who has been transferred to an alternative school setting. “I miss school.”

Lee’s father, Albert Lee, who emigrated from China 32 years ago, said his son has a clean academic and police record. He, too, insisted his son’s essay was not threatening but authorities “drew a conclusion before the investigation. They didn’t want to do the investigation.”

However, the father would not comment on whether he believed authorities acted quickly because his son is of Asian heritage, as was the Virginia Tech campus shooter.

Family therapist Michael Gurian, author of The Minds of Boys, said Allen Lee needs at least good counseling, but “If he was arrested solely based on those words, I don’t see that as the most helpful course.”

Bernardine Dohrn, director of Northwestern University’s Children and Family Justice Center, laughed when she heard the charge.

“You might want to talk to him, talk to his parents, but the criminal justice system seems to be the last thing you’d want,” said Dohrn, a former Weatherman leader who lived for years as a fugitive.

Mike McInerney, former head of the Cook County Public Defender’s Juvenile Court office, said he “wouldn’t be happy” if his son wrote such words but “I wouldn’t criminalize free expression. . . . I don’t think it’s going to hold up criminally.”

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CARY ILLINOIS – COPS GONE WILD: Student Arrested On B.S. Charges For Essay’s Imaginary Content – Ron Delilio, Chief Of The Cary Thought Police!

CARY, ILLINOIS – A high school senior was arrested after writing that “it would be funny” to dream about opening fire in a building and having sex with the dead victims, authorities said.

Another passage in the essay advised his teacher at Cary-Grove High School: “don’t be surprised on inspiring the first CG shooting,” according to a criminal complaint filed this week.

Allen Lee, 18, faces two disorderly conduct charges over the creative-writing assignment, which he was given on Monday in English class at the northern Illinois school.

Students were told to “write whatever comes to your mind. Do not judge or censor what you are writing,” according to a copy of the assignment.

According to the complaint, Lee’s essay reads in part, “Blood, sex and booze. Drugs, drugs, drugs are fun. Stab, stab, stab, stab, stab, s…t…a…b…puke. So I had this dream last night where I went into a building, pulled out two P90s and started shooting everyone, then had sex with the dead bodies. Well, not really, but it would be funny if I did.”

Officials described the essay as disturbing and inappropriate.

Lee said he was just following the directions.

“In creative writing, you’re told to exaggerate,” Lee said. “It was supposed to be just junk. … There definitely is violent content, but they’re taking it out of context and making it something it isn’t.”

Lee was moved to an off-campus learning program, and the district was evaluating a punishment, schools spokesman Jeff Puma said.

“It wasn’t just violent or foul language,” Puma said. “It went beyond that.”

The teenager’s father, Albert Lee, has defended his son as a straight-A student who was just following instructions and contends the school overreacted. But he has also said he understands that the situation arose in the week after a Virginia Tech student gunned down 32 people before committing suicide.

Defense attorney Dane Loizzo said Allen Lee has never been disciplined in school and signed Marine enlistment papers last week.

A conviction could bring up to 30 days in jail and a maximum $1,500 fine.

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CARY, ILLINOIS – COPS GONE WILD: Student Arrested After Turning In Violent Essay To Creative Writing Teacher – Police Chief Ron Delelio Is Responsible Party For Arrest

CARY, ILLINOIS ? High school students in Cary, Illinois, have begun a petition drive aimed at getting classmate Allen Lee reinstated.

The 18-year-old student was barred from classes this week after turning in a creative writing assignment which authorities say was violent and disturbing. Lee’s English teacher notified the principal, and district officials summoned police.

Lee is due in court in June to face charges of disorderly conduct.

The assignment was to write an essay expressing ideas and emotions using poetic conventions. Lee says he intended his essay as a joke, including the last sentence, in which he said the teacher’s method of teaching “could lead to a school shooting.”

The Cary police chief [ RON DELELIO ] says the essay didn’t mention any specific locations or names but depicted violence. And a school spokesman says it raised “red flags.”

Lee’s father says his son is a straight-A student who he says was following instructions.

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CARY ILLINOIS – COPS GONE WILD: Student Writes Essay, Arrested By Police

CARY, ILLINOIS ? 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.

Today, Cary-Grove students rallied behind the arrested teen by organizing a petition drive to let him back in their school. They posted on walls quotes from the English teacher in which she had encouraged students to express their emotions through writing.

“I’m not going to lie. I signed the petition,” said senior James Gitzinger. “But I can understand where the administration is coming from. I think I would react the same way if I was a teacher.”

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.

“The teacher was alarmed and disturbed by the content,” he said.

But a civil rights advocate said the teacher’s reaction to an essay shouldn’t make it a crime.

“One of the elements is that some sort of disorder or disruption is created,” said Ed Yohnka, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. “When something is done in private?when a paper is handed in to a teacher?there isn’t a disruption.”

The “key outcomes” this month for the Creative English class was for students to identify and utilize poetic conventions to communicate ideas and emotions. With that in mind, teachers reminded students that if they read something that posed a threat to self or others, the school could take action, said High School District 155 Supt. Jill Hawk.

The English teacher read the essay and reported it to a supervisor and the principal. A round-table discussion with district officials conveyed, with lively debate, and they decided to report it to the police.

“Our staff is very familiar with adolescent behavior. We’re very well versed with types of creativity put into writing. We know the standards of adolescent behavior that are acceptable and that there is a range,” Hawk said.

“There can certainly be writing that conveys concern for us even though it does not name names location or date,” he said.

The charge against Lee comes as schools across the country wrestle with how to react in the wake of the shootings at the Virginia Tech campus at Blacksburg, Va.

Bomb threats at high schools in Schaumburg and Country Club Hills have caused evacuations, and extra police were on duty at a Palos Hills high school this week because of a threatening note found in the bathroom of a McDonald’s restaurant a half-mile away.

Experts say the charge against Lee is troubling because it was over an essay that even police say contained no direct threats against anyone at the school. However, Virginia Tech’s actions toward Cho came under heavy scrutiny after the killings because of the “disturbing” plays and essays teachers say he had written for classes.

Simmie Baer, an attorney with the Children and Family Justice Center at Northwestern University, called the Cary incident an example of zero-tolerance policies gone awry. Children, she said, are not as sophisticated as adults and often show emotion through writing or pictures, which is what teachers should want because it is a safe outlet.

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