Bloomberg's Cops Illegally Cuffing Kids Under 16?

New report shows New York police arresting schoolchildren for non-crimes

Comments (0) By Nat Hentoff Wednesday, Oct 29 2008

And why, except for the NAACP–Legal Defense Fund, are city and national civil rights leaders silent? As with the stop-and-frisks actions by police, these school arrests are disproportionately of black and Hispanic students. This is New York City?

What does Police Commissioner Kelly, also enjoying a golden reputation, have to say? In the Daily News on October 9, his spokesman, Deputy Commissioner Paul Brown—who is clearly qualified to teach a course in Orwellian doublespeak for White House press secretaries—declared that although students can't be criminally prosecuted for such violations, the NYPD, not being "powerless" to deal with such behavior, has "an obligation under the law to maintain order, preserve the peace, and protect everyone in the school environment from the consequences of these unlawful behaviors."

Huh? These manacled kids were not violating the state penal law, but there surely is unlawful behavior somewhere in these arrests. Fill in the blank.

If these flagrantly illegal arrests of students under 16 for non-criminal behavior in our public schools continue, the NYCLU assures me that there will be a lawsuit.

Among those in the dock, even if he secures a life term as mayor, will be Michael Bloomberg and his police commissioner. I'd love to see them do the "perp walk."