In this case, justice did not fit the crime

In times of crisis, whether it is terrorism against us as a nation, or crimes against us individually, it is the hope for justice that enables us to carry on. The ideal is to maintain the administration of the law; to be just, fair and impartial; and to mete punishment when warranted. That's how the system is supposed to work. We should be able to count on that. When the system doesn't work, what are we supposed to do?

In January and February last year, six bomb threats were telephoned to two locations in two counties. The first location, the Coliseum sports complex in Voorhees, where John Danze was an assistant swim coach, received three bomb threats on cold winter evenings over two weeks. The second location, St. Margaret's Regional School in Woodbury Heights, received three similar threats during the same period. One of the anonymous threats was directed against Danze, who was a first-grade teacher in the school.

Police in Gloucester and Camden Counties worked long hours to investigate the threats and provide surveillance at both locations. At St. Margaret's, emergency personnel were dispatched with each threat to evacuate the students and help keep them calm until parents arrived. At the Coliseum, children fled the pool, wrapped in towels, comforted by coaches and parents, until the police arrived.

In the weeks after the threats, Danze was keenly interested in the investigations. He e-mailed students and parents with words of comfort. If no one discussed the incidents, he brought them up. At swim-team practice, he mentioned the parallels between the threats at the pool and the school. He told the children not to worry, that he would be there to protect them.

Finally, in April 2001, Danze was arrested in Gloucester County on allegations that he made the bomb threats, and one day later authorities in Camden County charged him with the same crimes. In each case, Danze was indicted by a grand jury and charged with making terroristic threats, making false public alarms, and creating widespread risk of danger and injury. He faced up to five years in prison and $25,000 fines.

On Oct. 19, Danze stood before a Superior Court judge in Camden County and asked to be put on probation and perform community service in exchange for not having to enter a plea or stand trial. The judge sternly denied entrance into a program for first-time offenders. He said the defendant was not a high school student, but a college graduate and a teacher.