The Kane County justice system sinks to a new low

Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, fitter to bruise than polish. ― Anne Bradstreet

The only possible answer to the impending question is the Kane County State’s Attorney’s office doesn’t care. They know I’m watching them, and this specific case, but even that level of due diligence failed to deter them from sinking to a brand new low. To make matters so much worse, Lisa Aust and her incompetent probation office are involved, and you already know how I feel about most of our judiciary.

The scenario starts with sources describing how the State is trying to violate the probation of the then 17-year-old Batavia kid who pled guilty to possession of bomb making material back in 2020. This young man wrote detailed plans on how he’d detonate a bomb at Batavia High School and he built the kind of home laboratory that would’ve allowed him to pull it off. I’ve been privy to some of the details in his lengthy notebook entries and his intent and capacity to carry out his plan are truly terrifying.

Once in custody, they determined this boy, who tested off the intelligence charts, was what we used to call a paranoid schizophrenic. When I worked with the mentally in the late 80s, less than 2 percent of schizophrenics were deemed to be “paranoid” or potentially violent. But they’ve eliminated that diagnosis in favor of applying a paranoia spectrum.

The bottom line is, unless they pair substance abuse with their mental illness, schizophrenics are no more likely to be violent than the rest of the population.

Per the plea agreement, this young man was sentenced to remain in the Kane County Juvenile Justice Center until he turned 18 at which point he was placed in a mental health center for a minimum of six months.

So, when I heard what Probation and the State’s Attorney’s Office were doing, my first thought was this now 19-year-old had gone off his meds. And that would be a very difficult proposition because whenever violent schizophrenics stop taking their medications, the result tends to evolve along the lines of the NIU shooter. But when I visited the Circuit Clerk’s office to get the actual paperwork I was rather confused by the purported violation:

The defendant and his parents are in possession of and have access to items and materials, including radioactive items such a red fiesta ware and uranium glass as well as multiple clocks which could be used in the creation of an explosive device.

Since, I’d never heard of a radioactive medium called “red fiesta ware” and uranium glass sounded somewhat serious, I resorted to Google where I swiftly learned this young man’s probation is being threatened on the basis of his parents vintage dinnerware and depression glass collection. I’ll pause to let you process that for a bit… Vintage dinnerware and depression glass.

Unbeknownst to me, back in the 20s and 30s a number of manufacturers applied a radioactive glaze to their plates, cups, and serving dishes to make the colors really pop. Similarly, uranium glass, better known as depression glass, derives it’s fascinating light green color from the uranium oxide used in the glassmaking process. To wit, if you shine a black light on it, it will emit an eerie green glow.

The bottom line is, unless red fiesta ware is chipped, these products are safe to use, but it’s a moot point because no one uses these highly collectable commodities for their intended purpose. Fiesta ware sets can go for thousands of dollars, and a piece of depression glass will generally run you around $100.

To put the amount of radiation involved in perspective, there is no record of anyone ever getting sick from either product. If you detonated a “dirty bomb” consisting of 1,500 pounds of red fiesta ware, a device that would be a little difficult to hide, you’d get just a 1.5 percent radiation yield. Aside from the ensuing shrapnel, it would be far more dangerous to stand too close to your microwave oven.

If the fiesta ware in question was manufactured in the 50s or 60s, it’s far less radioactive because that’s when the company switched to using spent uranium. Oh! And as far as clocks “which could be used in the creation of an explosive device” go, your cellphone would be a far better option.

Here’s what’s likely happened here.

For some unspecified reason, someone in the Probation office, the KCSAO, or perhaps even the judiciary deemed this boy’s parents to be “uncooperative.” So, they told the Special Probation Division to pay their son a “random” visit and violate him by whatever means possible. The only way the PO could’ve come up with this particular “violation” is if he or she arrived with Geiger counter in hand.

Despite fully comprehending this Depression era artwork isn’t the least bit dangerous, the State’s Attorney’s office, a we-can’t-possibly-be-wrong group of questionable human beings, resorted to their typical blunt force approach to gain leverage over the parents. But aside from being an egregious abuse of their virtually unlimited power, this bullshit maneuver will only serve to set the wheels in motion for what may well turn out to be a tragic ending. And no one in the Kane County legal system seems to be the slightest bit concerned.

What’s next Jamie Mosser? Violating probations on the basis of jaywalking, cutting the tags off mattresses, and using the accounts of Major League Baseball games without their express written consent?

On Thursday, I’ll explain exactly how we got to this patently absurd point.

Author’s Note:

If you want to “attend” the August 18th virtual hearing in front of Judge Sal LoPiccolo at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, August 18, please pay a visit to the 16th Circuit’s streaming schedule. If you have Zoom (who doesn’t these days), scroll down to LoPiccolos’ courtroom 211 and click on the “Join Hearing” link. The court clerk will shortly let you in. You can try the YouTube channel option, but that’s a hit or miss proposition.