Thursday, May 31, 2007
Homosexual Bashing Leafleteer Released from Juvenile Jail
My guess is that you won’t see one Crystal Lake South School girl wearing short pants the few times she is allowed to leave home before her June 26th trial.
That’s because she is being forced by Judge Mike Chmiel to wear an electronic ankle monitor until that trial date.
She's the one who was charged with a felony hate crime for passing out sheets of paper showing two male classmates kissing. The flier, according to District 155, "included an identifiable picture of a current student."
Still, that’s better than the shackles she was forced to wear in court. (Thanks to the Chicago Tribune’s Carolyn Starks for that detail, plus many others of the story.)
The Tribune story says conviction could result in a 30-day sentence.
At Judge Chmiel's order, she's already spent 18 days in Kane County’s Juvenile Detention Center since her arrest on May 11. (Lacking its own detention center, McHenry County sends its juveniles to Kane County's.)
“The girl's attorney, Matthew Haiduk, said he plans to seek dismissal of the charges because her written words ‘are protected speech under the 1st Amendment,’” according to the Tribune story.
You might expect the American Civil Liberties Union to be involved in this case, as it was decades ago when a Cary-Grove High School student refused to cut his hair.
ACLS First Amendment priorities apparently don’t extend to this District 155 high schooler’s written speech, however.
Here’s what Starks got from the ACLU in Chicago:
Keeshan also writes,
The second girl, who is also on home confinement, will be in court June 26th, too. Her attorney will ask for dismissal of the charges, reports Herald reporter Brandon Coutre.
That’s because she is being forced by Judge Mike Chmiel to wear an electronic ankle monitor until that trial date.
She's the one who was charged with a felony hate crime for passing out sheets of paper showing two male classmates kissing. The flier, according to District 155, "included an identifiable picture of a current student."
Still, that’s better than the shackles she was forced to wear in court. (Thanks to the Chicago Tribune’s Carolyn Starks for that detail, plus many others of the story.)
The Tribune story says conviction could result in a 30-day sentence.
At Judge Chmiel's order, she's already spent 18 days in Kane County’s Juvenile Detention Center since her arrest on May 11. (Lacking its own detention center, McHenry County sends its juveniles to Kane County's.)
“The girl's attorney, Matthew Haiduk, said he plans to seek dismissal of the charges because her written words ‘are protected speech under the 1st Amendment,’” according to the Tribune story.
You might expect the American Civil Liberties Union to be involved in this case, as it was decades ago when a Cary-Grove High School student refused to cut his hair.
ACLS First Amendment priorities apparently don’t extend to this District 155 high schooler’s written speech, however.
Here’s what Starks got from the ACLU in Chicago:
Ed Yohnka, a spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said that without seeing the flier, it is difficult to know whether it was threatening.The boy targeted by the leaflets and his mother were in court, Chuck Keeshan’s Daily Herald article reports.
"It is clear to us the school has a right to punish a student for distributing fliers on school grounds absent any permission to do so ... but that wasn't the tool that was used here," Yohnka said.
"Instead there was this immediate jump to a criminal charge. ... One hopes there would be other ways to deal with these things on campus other than the inclusion of a police officer."
Keeshan also writes,
(The girl’s attorney Matthew) Haiduk plans to file a motion to dismiss the charges, saying Tuesday the girls’ statements qualify as protected free speech and their actions never breached the peace or caused harm.Assistant McHenry County State’s Attorney Robert Windon “completely” disagreed with the defendant’s attorney’s interpretation of the First Amendment, the Daily Herald said.
“It’s not something that’s necessarily mainstream thought, but I think it’s protected by the First Amendment,” Haiduk said.
The second girl, who is also on home confinement, will be in court June 26th, too. Her attorney will ask for dismissal of the charges, reports Herald reporter Brandon Coutre.
Labels: ACLU, Cary-Grove High School, Crystal Lake High School District 155, Crystal Lake South High School, Hate Crime, Homosexuals, Matthew Haiduk, Mike Chmiel, Robert Windon
Monday, April 02, 2007
Northwest Herald Endorses Civil Unions
I don’t usually read the Northwest Herald’s editorials.
But, as anyone who knows me will attest, I do not pass up a newsstand without looking at the front pages of the news sections.
On Sunday, the Northwest Herald puts its editorial on the front page of a section, so I saw,
While the headline does not advocate civil unions, the little inset for those who had not interest in reading the text did.
I think its first sentence was
The editorial starts off with the assertion, “The bill does not legalize gay marriage.”
Wrong.
It does exactly that without awarding the title “marriage.”
That’s why long-time Chicago Democrat Mary Flowers voted against it. Here’s what the Chicago Tribune wrote,
But I guess folks shouldn't be too surprised by the NW Herald's endorsement.
It endorsed the Gay Games Regatta, saying it "would be good exposure for the city."
I guess readers should not be surprised, considering the paper’s cheer leading on the Gay Games’ regatta’s being held on Crystal Lake.
The paper let Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley present his praise of the Gay Games.
And it opposed the Protect Marriage advisory referendum before the petitions were even filed.
Endorsing civil unions at least shows consistency.
Coincidentally, researcher Paul Cameron, PhD, delivered his and his mathematician son Kirk’s analysis of the largest sex survey ever conducted—the 2003 Canadian Community Health survey of 121,300 adults--to the Eastern Psychological Association two days before.
The findings: only 1.4% of adults engaged in homosexual behavior.
And: 2% of 18-44 year olds, 1% of 50 year olds, and only a third of a percent of subjects 60+ considered themselves homosexual. Thus homosexual activity was much more common among younger adults.
The two Cameron PhD’s also reported findings on the ages of death of those in “gay marriages” in two northern European countries—Denmark and Norway.
Over 12 years in Denmark, homosexual partners died at an average age of 51, while men married to women died at 74. 52 versus 77 in Norway, where the sample was smaller and only over 5 years.
The figures for lesbians were similar. Those in gay marriages lived to an average age of 56 in both countries, while women married to men lived to 78 in Denmark and 81 in Norway.
The period studied in Denmark was from 1990-2002; in Norway, 1997-2002.
Cameron also refers to the obituary studies he did from the Washington Blade. After analyzing them, he concluded that homosexuals and lesbians died about 20 years earlier than the average. The Scandinavian government statistics are pretty close to his own,as you can see if you take a look at the study.
The obituary-based studies were roundly criticized by gay activists. I wonder what they think now.
But, as anyone who knows me will attest, I do not pass up a newsstand without looking at the front pages of the news sections.
On Sunday, the Northwest Herald puts its editorial on the front page of a section, so I saw,
State ponders civil unionsFrom that headline, one might think there would be an “on the one hand, this, and, on the other hand, that” approach, but that was not the case.
While the headline does not advocate civil unions, the little inset for those who had not interest in reading the text did.
I think its first sentence was
We favor civil unions.That’s a lot more straightforward than the editorial.
The editorial starts off with the assertion, “The bill does not legalize gay marriage.”
Wrong.
It does exactly that without awarding the title “marriage.”
That’s why long-time Chicago Democrat Mary Flowers voted against it. Here’s what the Chicago Tribune wrote,
"There is a fine line, and I think Rep. Harris crossed it," said Rep. Mary Flowers (D-Chicago), who opposed the bill in committee. "I think what he did is make this, indirectly, same-sex marriage but called it something else. ... Marriage is between a man and a woman."In fact, the bill would not have gotten out of committee without the vote of North Shore Republican Beth Coulson.
But I guess folks shouldn't be too surprised by the NW Herald's endorsement.
It endorsed the Gay Games Regatta, saying it "would be good exposure for the city."
I guess readers should not be surprised, considering the paper’s cheer leading on the Gay Games’ regatta’s being held on Crystal Lake.
The paper let Crystal Lake Mayor Aaron Shepley present his praise of the Gay Games.
And it opposed the Protect Marriage advisory referendum before the petitions were even filed.
Endorsing civil unions at least shows consistency.
Coincidentally, researcher Paul Cameron, PhD, delivered his and his mathematician son Kirk’s analysis of the largest sex survey ever conducted—the 2003 Canadian Community Health survey of 121,300 adults--to the Eastern Psychological Association two days before.
The findings: only 1.4% of adults engaged in homosexual behavior.
And: 2% of 18-44 year olds, 1% of 50 year olds, and only a third of a percent of subjects 60+ considered themselves homosexual. Thus homosexual activity was much more common among younger adults.
The two Cameron PhD’s also reported findings on the ages of death of those in “gay marriages” in two northern European countries—Denmark and Norway.
Over 12 years in Denmark, homosexual partners died at an average age of 51, while men married to women died at 74. 52 versus 77 in Norway, where the sample was smaller and only over 5 years.
The figures for lesbians were similar. Those in gay marriages lived to an average age of 56 in both countries, while women married to men lived to 78 in Denmark and 81 in Norway.
The period studied in Denmark was from 1990-2002; in Norway, 1997-2002.
Cameron also refers to the obituary studies he did from the Washington Blade. After analyzing them, he concluded that homosexuals and lesbians died about 20 years earlier than the average. The Scandinavian government statistics are pretty close to his own,as you can see if you take a look at the study.
The obituary-based studies were roundly criticized by gay activists. I wonder what they think now.
Labels: Aaron Shepley, Canada, Civil Unions, Denmark, Homosexuals, Kirk Cameron, Lesbians, Lifespan, Northwest Herald, Norway, Paul Cameron
