Legal News - Teen's Threatening Essay Isn't Protected Speech

Legal News Journal

Legal News Home page Click here to add this website to your favorites
  rss
Bar News Search >>>
Teen's Threatening Essay Isn't Protected Speech

•  Court Watch     updated  2008/08/19 08:54

A student's essay fantasizing about a Columbine-style high school shooting was a true threat and not free speech protected by the First Amendment, the 8th Circuit ruled.

When creative writing teacher Ann Mershon read David Riehm's essay called "Bowling for Cuntchenson," she felt "threatened, scared and hurt," Judge Gruender wrote, because the essay seemed to foretell her own murder.

Riehm had previously written an essay criticizing an "old fashioned, narrow minded, uncreative, paranoid ... jealous" English teacher named "Mrs. Cuntchenson."

Riehm was suspended and referred to the Cook County Department of Health and Human Services. Based on the social worker's recommendation, Riehm was detained and placed in protective custody.

Two days later, Riehm was released from custody because he was considered
not mentally ill or dangerous. Riehm and his mother sued the county.

Gruender agreed with the trial court that the Riehms presented no evidence that county officials acted improperly.

"The details of the teacher's murder and the narrator's suicide lead to the inescapable conclusion that it was a serious threat directed at Mershon," the judge wrote.

Breaking Legal News  |  Headline News  |  Law Center  |  Legal Business  |  Court News  |  Law Firm News  |  Legal Interviews |  Political and Legal
Practice Focuses  |  Legal Spotlight  |  Events & Seminars  |  Legal Marketing  |  Court Watch  |  Immigration  |  Press Releases
International  |  Politics  |  Justice Stories  |  Web Design for Law Firms  |  Celebrity Courthouse
Lawyer Website Design For Sole Practitioners
© The Legal News Journal. All rights reserved.