ACLU Sues in Support of 'Creative' 'Non-Threatening' Student Poet

From First Coast News in Brunswick, Georgia:

ROME, GA (AP) -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia filed a federal lawsuit Monday against Murray County schools for expelling an eighth-grader for writing a poem on school violence.

The student, whose name was not released, was suspended and expelled last year after he showed a notebook full of poems to his English teacher, according to an ACLU statement.

"Kids are being raised in a society where there are violent images around them, not just in movies but in the news," said ACLU attorney Beth Littrell. "Their writing may reflect that and the school should not be punishing them for their creative expression unless it's truly threatening."

The poem is not included in the story, but Jay at Stop the ACLU received a copy of the poem in an email:

Something bad is going to happen at school,
Maybe not to you, maybe to Loni,
I’m not very sure, but I know it’ll haunt me
For the rest of my life and for the rest of my days,
all I will see is a red bloody haze.
From Death to Desire,
I have to find a heart that I truely addmire.
From blondes to brunets, reds and browns,
their screams provide me with a crisp, clean sound.
I live in horror, terror and fear
I feel like I must do something like Paul Reveare.
I hear guns go off, bodies drop
I just wish this little game would stop.
Your heart beats, Your goin in shock,
you reach for the glock but tha music stops...

Loni's mother apparently thinks the poem is "truly threatening" and emailed Jay, who correctly points out that the school had little choice but to take action against the student. Of course, maybe this is simply a very creative student who has just learned a valuable, if tough, lesson in discretion.

Maybe the ACLU simply doesn't realize the potential for real trouble here because nobody mentioned the name "Columbine".

Also posted at The Jawa Report and Vince Aut Morire.