School Resources & Training Institute
Legal and Liability Article Database

For assistance with this database contact us at information@school-training.com or at 800-365-0119.
Return to SR-TI Article Index

PATC Article Detail


Title: Did ěDark Poetryî Poem Constitute a Threat?
Author: Jack Ryan
ID: LL103
Issue: SU1-5
Issue Date: 2004-09-01
Edition: School
Type: Article

Body: ěI am Dark, Destructive & Dangerous. I slap on my face of happiness, but inside I am evil!! For I can be the next kid to bring guns to kill students at school. So parents watch your children cuz Iím BACK!!î

So read the poem of George T., a fifteen year old accused of ěcriminal threatî after he wrote the verse labeled ěDark Poetry.î

In re George T. , 2004 Cal. LEXIS 6629 (Supreme Ct. Cal. 2004) considered whether the poem constituted a criminal threat. George was a student at Santa Teresa High School for two weeks when he showed his poetry to Mary S. who did not know George very well. After reading Georgeís poem Mary left school in fear. She reported what she had read to her dad who subsequently called the school, only to find that it was already closed for the day.

Over the weekend Mary contacted her English teacher and reported what had occurred. The teacher, Mr. Rasmussen contacted the principal and the police. Mary reported that she felt personally threatened by the poetry.

During the subsequent police investigation, George T. reported that the poetry was dark poetry and was not intended as a threat to anyone. In fact, he reported that he and his friends regularly joked about being the next ěColumbine Kids.î He stated that the poems in question were written as an escape on a day when he forgot his lunch money and was having a bad day.

In challenging the criminal threat charge, George T. claimed the poetry was protected by the First Amendment.

The court reviewed the poems line by line to determine whether the verse constituted a threat. The court noted that only two lines in the entire poem might constitute a threat, specifically the last two lines. The court focused on the word ěcanî in the sentence ěFor I can be the next kid to bring guns to kill students at school.î The court noted that the word ěcanî does not mean ěwill.î

In finding for George T., the court concluded that the ambiguous nature of the language in the poem would not allow a finding that the verse was an unequivocal threat.



Citation 1:
Citation 2:
Citation 3:
Keywords:
Other Information: