Those who read here often know I value free speech.  This was a case a friend told me about and asked if I thought was valid:

Teacher arrested for pro-Columbine blog post

Bloggers and free speech advocates are calling on prosecutors not to file charges against a teacher arrested for allegedly posting an anonymous comment online praising the Columbine shooters.

...

Some were disturbed by the post that police say James Buss left on a conservative blog, but other observers said it was a sarcastic attempt to discredit critics of education spending.

The suburban Milwaukee high school chemistry teacher was arrested last week for the November 16 comment left on www.bootsandsabers.com, a  blog on Wisconsin politics. The comment, left under the name "Observer," came during a discussion over teacher salaries, after some writers complained teachers were underworked and overpaid.

Buss, a former president of the teacher's union, allegedly wrote that teacher salaries made him sick because they are lazy and work only five hours a day. He praised the teen gunmen who killed 12 students and a teacher before committing suicide in the April 1999 attack at Columbine High School.

They knew how to deal with the overpaid teacher union thugs. One shot at a time!" he wrote, adding they should be remembered as heroes.

Let's all sit back, and agree this guy is a jerk.  But like it or not, we have not yet gotten around to making it illegal to be an asshole.

I found the reasoning of the officials pretty weak...:

Washington County District Attorney Todd Martens is considering whether to charge Buss with disorderly conduct and unlawful use of computerized communication systems.

...Police Capt. Toby Netko defended the arrest. He said the teacher who complained was disturbed by the reference to "one shot at a time" and  other educators agreed it was a threat.

...and (gulp) the logic of the ACLU persuasive...:

"If you look at all the factors in this case, it's pretty clear it would be a mistake to charge," said Larry Dupuis, legal director of  The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin. "At worst, it was somebody expressing admiration for somebody who did something reprehensible.

...except this bit...:

But the more reasonable explanation is this is somebody who is trying to mock the conservative view of teacher salaries."

Naw.  He is just a jerk.

So, anyway, I was not expecting this to fly.  And it didn't:

Wisconsin teacher who posted an anonymous comment online sarcastically praising the Columbine High School gunmen won't face criminal charges

Washington County District Attorney Todd Martens said the comment left by James Buss was offensive and disgusting, but was protected speech under the state and U.S. constitutions.

Martens said Buss was being facetious because he was tired of reading negative comments about teachers.

Martens said he could not charge Buss with a crime because the blog was not likely to incite "imminent lawless action." He said it was unclear whether the comment advocated violence against teachers, and even if it did, its language was not likely to incite others to act.

As I repeatedly said, the most potent examples of free speech is speech that pisses you off, and this is a case in point.

However...nothing is consequence free.  I would frankly not want this guy teaching my kids, so if they decided to fire him, I would have to say that wouldn't be an unreasonable response.

 Trackposted to Sister Toldjah, Outside the Beltway, The Virtuous Republic, Rosemary's Thoughts, The Random Yak, Adam's Blog, Right Truth, The Pet Haven Blog, Big Dog's Weblog, Cao's Blog, The Amboy Times, Chuck Adkins, Adeline and Hazel, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, Woman Honor Thyself, The World According to Carl, Pirate's Cove, Celebrity Smack, The Pink Flamingo, CommonSenseAmerica, Dumb Ox Daily News, Right Voices, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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