Teenage girl ordered held in custody for her anti-gay propaganda

[Bluebear]

WOODSTOCK – A judge Tuesday ordered that one of two teens charged with a hate crime for distributing fliers that contained hateful messages toward gays at a Crystal Lake high school remain in custody at a juvenile detention center until her trial.

“I’m very nervous about your daughter being home without supervision,” Judge Michael Chmiel told the girl’s mother...

Officials say the fliers depict a male student kissing another boy and contain hateful language about gays.

Citing concerns over the girl’s home environment and her already lengthy juvenile record, Judge Michael Chmiel denied the girl’s request for home detention. Instead Chmiel ordered her held in the Kane County Juvenile Justice Center while the case is pending.

The girl’s record, Chmiel said, features 13 contacts with police, including an arrest for marijuana possession in August. McHenry County court records show that within the past year the girl also has been charged for driving without a license, consumption of alcohol by a minor, possession of tobacco by a minor, trespassing and three curfew violations.

“I’m concerned about you having some potentially negative influences around you,” Chmiel told her. “I think the environment is ripe for failure.”



http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2007/05/23/news/local/doc4653c5f26214f191392216.txt
http://www.dailyherald.com/news/mchenrystory.asp?id=315686&cc=k&tc=&t=

[Forkboy]

1. All things considered I say good for the judge.

[deadmessengers]

2. I'm so torn here

On one hand, it's pretty obvious from her previous record that this is a girl in need of supervision - she's clearly out of control. But, on the other hand, what about the First Amendment? You know, that whole 'freedom of speech' thing? I mean, it would also hinge on the actual content of the fliers, but if the fliers match the description e.g. "contained hateful language"... well, she's got a right to be as bigoted as she wants. That's the beautiful part of free speech - it protects us all.

There may be more to this that's not being reported, though, I dunno.

[JoDog]

3. depends on what the flier actually said

I live in the county where this happened, and from what I have heard, the flier directly targeted another student. Now, if that language was simply hateful, that is one thing. But if the flier actually advocated violence against this student or gays in general, that is not protected speech. Actual encouragement of a violent act against a targeted group or persons is considered hate speech and not covered by the First Admendment. It goes back to the "shouting "Fire! in a crowded building" arguement.

[deadmessengers]

4. oh, absolutely

The article was frustratingly ambiguous with regard to the actual content of the flyer. If it simply said "I hate homos! Gays suck", then she's clearly in the right legally (but not morally, of course). If it said "Joe X is a homo, and you should kick his ass", then she's just as clearly in the wrong.

However, directly targeting someone can still be free speech - again, it depends on the context. For example, involuntarily "outing" a gay student is clearly reprehensible, but legally permissible.

[Robson]

5. Which is more important - hate crime or freedom of speech?

This example represents what concerns me with hate crime laws. They become slippery slopes to allowing government to prosecute what are clearly non-crimes at will. This could open the door to punish those who post on forums what some may consider as "hateful" speech? This is an example where our right of free speech is being not only curtailed but being wrongly prosecuted. The ACLU in Illinois agrees that this is a concern to free speech.

Quote: Ed Yohnka, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said the case illustrated a complex struggle between protecting targeted groups of people and protecting the First Amendment.

In fact, the issue is so divisive that the ACLU of Illinois differed from its national organization’s support of a federal hate-crimes law that passed the U.S. House of Representatives and now is in the U.S. Senate. The law would include gender and sexual orientation as protected groups in hate-crime laws, as Illinois already does.

“We have a rather strong and historic strain of protecting free speech in this affiliate in a way that caused us to differentiate from the national organization,” Yohnka said.

http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_137105252.html