Seriously.

The girl in that case is one of five plaintiffs in a federal class-action lawsuit filed against the city by the New York Civil Liberties Union. The suit alleges widespread mistreatment of public school students by safety officers and the police. New York City schoolchildren are often arrested, the suit charges, for minor misbehavior that might be a violation of school rules but is in no way a violation of law.

Just last month, a 12-year-old girl at a junior high school in Queens was arrested for doodling on her desk with an erasable marker. She was paraded out of school in handcuffs and taken to a precinct stationhouse. She wept, too.

When asked about that case, a spokesman for Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said “common sense should prevail” when decisions are made about whether to handcuff and arrest students. But common sense is frequently in short supply when the safety officers and the police are imposing their will on students who are not lawbreakers.

via Op-Ed Columnist – Cops vs. Kids in New York City Schools – NYTimes.com.

I wonder what the statute of limitations for this serious crime is. If you are a millenial and you have ever scribbled your name on a school desk in NYC, beware, the cold case unit may be at your door soon.