Concours «La justice a bonne mine»

Guillaume mérite une deuxième chance...

NDLR. À chaque année, le Barreau de Montréal organise un concours littéraire à l'intention des étudiants du secondaire de la région de Montréal. Cette année encore, les textes de six élèves ont été retenus. Un premier texte est paru dans l'édition du 15 juin; nous vous proposons, dans cette édition, les cinq autres textes primés lors du concours «La justice a bonne mine».

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De gauche à droite: Me Hélèna Lamed, Karine Cyrenne, Marc Brown, Marie-Eve Fournier Hénault, Monsieur le bâtonnier Richard J. McConomy, Me Béatrice Arronis, Katrina Enros, Rachel Boivin-Martin et Patrick Moloney.

Marie-Eve Fournier-Hénault,
Deuxième secondaire,
École secondaire Daniel-Johnson

Je suis M^me Lise Lerouge. Je proteste contre la pétition qui circule en ce moment contre mon fils, Guillaume Lerouge, qui a purgé trois ans de prison pour avoir commis le meurtre de M^me Lebrun. La pétition demande d'exclure Guillaume de l'école et propose à la municipalité de lui interdire l'accès à toutes les activités.

Guillaume a beaucoup changé. À la maison, il aide en faisant des tâches ménagères. Il s'occupe de sa soeur, lui demande ses leçons, ce que je voyais rarement avant tous ces événements pénibles. C'est maintenant une toute nouvelle personne. Ceux qui sont pour la pétition n'ont aucunement pris le temps d'apprendre à le connaître de nouveau. Ils signent avec l'image de Guillaume trois ans plus tôt. Une personne ne peut-elle pas changer? Pourquoi toujours repenser à ces tristes situations? Pour Guillaume, c'est du passé. Il veut maintenant bâtir son avenir, un bel avenir. Il rêve d'avoir un emploi stable, une maison à la campagne où il serait réuni avec sa femme et ses enfants. N'est-ce pas beau? Je sais que tout le monde a des rêves et ne réussit pas toujours à les réaliser, mais moi j'y crois.

Guillaume désire s'impliquer. Il est présentement dans l'équipe de hockey du quartier. Cette activité lui apporte beaucoup de motivation et d'assurance. Vous devez comprendre que c'est dur pour lui de se sentir bien dans sa peau avec ce souvenir en tête et les regards mauvais de certaines personnes. J'ai découvert en lui de nouveaux intérêts comme tout ce qui concerne la nature, l'environnement. Des intérêts que je ne lui connaissais pas avant. Il n'a que seize ans, la vie lui réserve encore plein de surprises. Chose certaine, il a eu sa leçon.

«Je ne veux que le bien, j'ai fait assez de mal». Il veut rendre le monde heureux et fait beaucoup d'efforts pour se faire pardonner. Il nous fait souvent des petites surprises. Une fois, Priscilla, sa soeur, a trouvé un petit mot dans sa boîte à lunch. Il fait rire ses amis qui viennent à la maison. Pour leur faire plaisir, il leur prête souvent des jeux d'ordinateurs, alors qu'avant il était très possessif et n'aimait pas partager. Il est conscient de ce qu'il a fait et sait que ça ne peut s'oublier.

J'espère avoir réussi à vous faire réfléchir à ce sujet. Je veux pour lui tout ce qu'il y a de mieux pour qu'il puisse grandir sans toujours repenser à ce qu'il a fait, mais plutôt à ce qu'il accomplira. Laissez-lui une deuxième chance. Vous ne le regretterez pas.

Merci de votre compréhension,

Lise Lerouge

Patrick Moloney,
12 years old, Grade 6,
The Priory School

The Right Thing To Do - I was watching a football game when my wife came home. She sent Philomena upstairs and then she said "Honey, we need to talk". She sounded discouraged. "Well, what's on your mind?" I said. "Remember when we found Philomena in the park with her friends when she was supposed to have been making up for what she had done at school?" she said in a concerned way. "Yes so", I said. "So, not only do we have an aggressive child but also a disobedient one" she said. "Now, before we resort to punishment, we should first put ourselves in her shoes. She's probably telling the truth about her defending a grade three kid and she gets punished for it. She might think it's unfair so she escapes punishment by sneaking out of the house with her friends", I replied. "Wouldn't you do the same?" "No, I would tell my parents and maybe they'd understand", she answered. "Well, that's the problem. As parents we should talk to her and listen to her", I exclaimed.

"I don't know about this. The best way she'll learn is if she's punished. And this time she should be punished even more than before, but I'll think about it", she announced. "I will also think about it", I said.

The next day my wife woke me up and took me downstairs. She started out by saying "Last night I had a dream. I dreamt that I saw a man robbing a bank. The alarm didn't go off, though. Now, there was a store next to the bank and it had an alarm system and a big window. I decided that since the police weren't notified I would pick up a rock and break the window. So I picked up a rock and threw it at the store window. The alarm went off real loud. Shortly after I was arrested and taken away by the police. It was unfair. I tried to tell them why I did it but they wouldn't listen."

I had to say something. "I think that's the way Philomena feels", I said. "Do you really think so?" she asked. "Yes. But all she has to learn is that violence doesn't solve everything", I exclaimed. We then went upstairs to talk to Philomena.

After a long but successful discussion we finally sorted things out. I decided that she wouldn't get punished if she learned her lesson.

Marc Brown,
14 years old,
Grade Secondary II,
Jean XXIII School

My name is Marc Brown and I am writing this statement because I want real justice to be served. I'm the son of the victim Ms. Brown. I live in the same neighborhood as that murderer John Jones. I'm a married man and I have a fourteen year old son myself and frankly we are very worried for our safety.

The first thing I would like to say is that we are not the only family that is scared for our own safety but I know of many more and I don't think that people should be scared in their own houses when they have done nothing. That is why I think we should prevent John Jones from enroling in our school and playing on the hockey team. My son goes to the school that John Jones has enrolled in and he plays for the hockey team. My son said that he wanted to change schools. He has been going to that school since elementary and I don't plan on making him change schools because of a teenage murderer. For crying out loud, my son asks me, "What would happen if I got into a little argument, would he kill me?" Now I don't think it is normal for a kid to be concerned for his life like that. He should have gotten prison time like the other one but all he got was three years detention. I mean he murdered a helpless old woman. In some states you get the death penalty. I don't want to hear all the crap about him being a juvenile and that he didn't start the violence, murder is murder and he should be punished severely.

I gave you a couple of reasons why I think John Jones should be thrown in jail for a long time but I still have a couple more. John Jones took away someone important to my family and nothing will ever be able to bring her back. Losing someone important in your life because she got killed is a lot more suffering then going to detention for a measly three years. All I'm saying is that the punishment is supposed to fit the crime, but in this case it doesn't.

Another reason why I think John Jones should be in prison is because he is setting a very bad example for my son, for other teenagers and younger kids. If John Jones gets away with only three years detention, kids will realize that they can hurt or kill other kids that they don't like and get away with it with a minor punishment.

The whole point of this statement was to get your support to put John Jones in jail because if I don't have the majority of the community's support then we will be in danger until John Jones is in jail.