Boy's 'Violent Poem' Conviction Is Appealed

The case of the felonious poetry has received national attention, with prominent writers, including Nobel Prize winner J.M. Coetzee and Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Chabon, weighing in on behalf of the boy.

He was one of several students around the country arrested for stories, poetry or art that evoked violence following the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., in 1999.

Identified in court records only as George T., the San Jose boy was 15 when he wrote poetry about taking guns to school and gave it to two classmates in his honors English course. Eleven days earlier, a boy the same age had killed two students and injured 13 others at a high school in San Diego County.

A Juvenile Court judge determined the poetry was a threat and George served 90 days in juvenile detention. A divided Court of Appeal in Santa Clara County upheld the conviction and the boy appealed to the California Supreme Court.

During a hearing Thursday, several members of the state high court questioned whether the violent imagery in the boy's poetry amounted to an unequivocal and immediate threat. "We all agree that this case presents a 1st Amendment issue," said Justice Joyce L. Kennard.

One of the boy's poems, titled "Faces," included the line "For I can be the next kid to bring guns to kill students at school." Kennard noted that the boy used the word "can" instead of "will."

"Doesn't that weaken the argument" that the poem represented an immediate threat? she asked.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Jeffrey Laurence replied that "can has multiple connotations." He noted that the next line in the poem said, "So parents watch your children cuz I'm BACK!!"

Chief Justice Ronald M. George said the poetry may have been in "poor taste" but expressed doubt that the boy intended his words to be taken as a threat. He noted that people utter expressions all the time that could be considered a threat if taken literally.

"Some people say, 'I could kill you for that,' or, 'I could have killed you when you said that,' " the chief justice said.

Justice Carlos R. Moreno observed that the boy had made a copy of his violent poem for his poetry collection. He suggested a writer might not copy a poem for a collection if he intended it as a threat.