Felony Charges for Fake High School Bomb, for Handing Out Pamphlets

I’m still trying to figure out how proposed punishments fit high school crimes.

Saturday, the Northwest Herald reported that a St. Charles North High School boy was arrested for felony disorderly conduct.

“About 11:30 a.m., a teacher found a box that was ticking and had protruding wires in a courtyard on the south side of the school grounds,” the article reads.

The Kane County bomb squad was called.

Now, that sounds like a felony.

Just as making a bathroom wall threat at Crystal Lake Central High School sounds like a felony, even though three teens at Winnebago High School were charged with misdemeanor disorderly conduct for making a similar threat.

Handing out pamphlets, even ones you and I might consider hateful ones, does not sound like a felony hate crime. (See comments by Champaign County blogger John Bambenek.)

The girl with the hate crime felony charge will be in court Tuesday.

And, then there is Cary-Grove High School student Allen Lee, whom McHenry County State's Attorney Lou Bianchi decided did not merit misdemeanor disorderly conduct prosecution for threatening creative writing class essay that disturbed his teacher.

The Chicago Tribune's Dennis Bryne also weighs in on the subject referencing the ACLU-abetted Nazi march in Skokie.