Wouldn't it be enough to add it to their "permanent record" with the college board... or at least as long as the scores would be valid? IE, when colleges request their scores, they would get a note saying what they did. Seems like that would be punishment enough.

If those same kids mugged someone they'd get probation, have to go to some drug and alcohol education program and their record would be wiped clean after a period of time. So its off with the heads of the spoiled rich kids who feel entitled enough to not have to take their own test or who want to get into the best Ivy league school but let the kid who would rather steal wallets and ipods instead of getting a real job get a slap on the wrist. I'm sure he'll never steal again.

Is the degree of premeditation necessary to arrange for this sort of cheating really the kind of spur-of-the-moment judgment fail youth is famous for?

Doesn't a good SAT result reward the student with scholarship offers, sometimes worth thousands of dollars?

Think about this when you're in the doctor's office, looking at those certificates.

When does a cheater stop cheating?

Dragging these kids through the court system regardless of the outcome is a waste of time and money for everyone.

Then if they are convicted, it is doubtful they would see the inside a prison anyway. They would have a probation officer, who is probably overworked and would just have them call in.

This isn't credit card fraud -- no money was taken. No real property was taken.

This is just stupid.

I'm with Rad. This was a very real, highly planned attempt to defraud colleges. Fraud is a crime. I'm happy they're being charged.

It's really stupid, except to the kid who would have missed out because of the cheaters.

Let's assume that a place at an Ivy League school is worth something. Can anyone put a monetary value on it? Does stealing that amount of money constitute a misdemeanor or a felony in your state? Are you OK with the same punishment for someone who steals that amount from your bank account? Or is it OK because it wasn't stolen from you?

SAT scores are only part of the application for college. Students need to get good grades, belong to clubs, volunteer, and usually play a sport. Nobody is getting anyone's scholarship based on an SAT score. Another thing is that due to the economy, private colleges are not getting the same level of applications. Here in NY, a SUNY school that normally received 20,000 applications are now receiving 60,000 and applications from students who normally would not have looked at their school. Cortland was at one time not a hard school to get into. Because of the economy, I know quite a few kids who were unable to get in despite having good grades. Those same kids were accepted to quite a few of the more expensive private schools and offered scholarships.

I don't condone cheating. For me its about honor. But I can guarantee that most of the kids involved in this come from wealthy families and the expectation is that they will do well, go on to private schools, and be successful when they graduate. That will happen regardless of what happens with this case. Their parents will make sure of it.

"Think about this when you're in the doctor's office, looking at those certificates."

You know what they call the person who gradutates at the bottom of the class in med school? ....... Doctor. Those certificates tell you the same thing that a undergrad degree does: this person was decent at passing tests. Pieces of paper make lousy doctors.

"Let's assume that a place at an Ivy League school is worth something."

The big value of Ivy League schools is networking - social currency. The secondary value is the name brand (which is carrying less and less cache). Students with hustle can network even if they end up in their safety schools. Or horror of horrors; state schools.

This is a situation that has it's own organic consequences. This is the sort of thing the SAT board should handle. Flagging their names and attaching a note as Nicole suggested would be punishment enough. It would definitely keep them out of any of the competitive schools.

If you send a kid to jail for a year he spends it inundated in a society formed by violent criminals. Adapting to that society and learning to embrace its values is a survival mechanism. It can turn a non-violent kid into a real criminal. You're not just making these kids unemployable; you're making them more harmful to society at large.

But hey, you get to say you're tough on crime when you run for election so I guess it's worth it.

Really? "Bring their lives to a crashing end?"
Wow. That's what a misdemeanor conviction does?
Isn't this a bit overwrought?

If you really want to punish them, have them show up to the court house.

And have a SAT examination waiting for them. And make them take it. And use that score to superceed the one they cheated to get. And bar them from retaking the SAT for at least 6 months, if not a year.

Really? "Bring their lives to a crashing end?"
Wow. That's what a misdemeanor conviction does?
Isn't this a bit overwrought?

You mean when your application for employment asks "have you ever been arrested?"

A misdemeanor charge seems fair. These people won't see jail time if convicted.

Radwaste is right: While you need more than the SAT to get a scholarship, SAT scores are a big part of it. Successfully cheating on the SAT could have meant them stealing thousands of dollars from other students and us in the way of student aid, if they were eligible.

If these people had mugged someone in the park and stolen $40 from a wallet, we wouldn't be questioning whether they deserved to be prosecuted. The fact that they are clean-cut young adults with promising professional futures and not your standard park thug makes people want to think twice about it, but it shouldn't.

They don't deserve to go to jail (I wouldn't recommend jail time for someone who stole the 40 bucks, either, assuming no one was physically hurt and the person did not have any priors), but they do deserve the criminal record they worked so hard for.

I had great SAT scores and didn't even apply to the top-tier schools because I couldn't afford them. So the fact they that they will be forced to accept admission to the second-tier and third-tier schools, like most people, doesn't really seem like a punishment.

I don't see the need to involve the criminal justice system, but I don't feel sorry for the little shits, either. Does anyone really believe that this is the first time they cheated?

The question on the employment form is actually, "Have you ever been CONVICTED of a FELONY?" and not, "Have you ever been arrested?". A misdemeanor conviction will not have these kids eating out of garbage cans in the future.

Whatever happened to the old tried-and-true method of auto-failing a student's test with a 0 when they get caught cheating on it? A zeroed SAT score doesn't exactly look good to colleges, and if I recall correctly the score doesn't just go away if you retake the test, either. Is there really a need to go beyond that?

Misdemeanor or not, it is still too damn much.
In this day and age, it is more than possible that the prosecutor is looking for cheap publicity. I used to be in the news business, and many's the time I wanted to gag when I watched some bozo lawyer from the DAs office (or the DA him or herself) stand in front of reporters and speak gravely and portentously about cases that 50 years ago would have had the reporters laughing, other prosecutors cringing, and the judge throwing the gavel at the DA for wasting his time.

For me this goes along the lines of "sexting" as a minor or if you are 18 years old and have sex with your 16 year old girlfriend. Sexting in some states, as well as "statutory rape" can put you on a sexual predators list FOR LIFE!!!!!

I had a friend whose son was 18 and his girlfriend 16 and they slept together he was charged for statuary rape and put on "the list", even though they eventually married he stayed on "the list."

At twenty-four he committed suicide, because he could not find a job because of his "record". He was hammered on a daily basis for being listed as a sexual predator.

Why is is so difficult for us as a country to know the difference between, making mistakes when you are young or a habitual felon?

Oh, I think I get it - it prevents those in power from feeling guilty of sending those who are 18 years young, to do the killing for us in wars that armchair warriors start and are engaged in!!!!!

I have a misdemeanor conviction. Hasn't barred me from anything. Does mean I have to explain myself on occasion. So wah wah wah for the poor little rich kids who got caught for once.

How ever do you think habitual felons get started, venice? Yep, that's right, generally with their first misdemeanor.

I'm with alittlesense on this one. The DA here in Nassau County has more serious problems than kids cheating on the SAT. I wonder if she'll start visiting the local schools soon and make sure the kids didn't write the spelling words on their hands. She should worry about some of the rash of bank robberies, home invasions, DWI's, wrong way drivers while drunk and other assorted crimes that are on the rise.

So, venicementor how did the in laws take it when they found out their daughters husband killed himself because of them?

The question on the employment form is actually, "Have you ever been CONVICTED of a FELONY?" and not, "Have you ever been arrested?". A misdemeanor conviction will not have these kids eating out of garbage cans in the future. Sheepmommy at September 30, 2011 7:46 AM

That is legally what is supposed to be on the application. The actual wording is different many times. Arguing the wording on an application before or after just labels you a trouble maker. You don't get the job.

Add to the fact that if you have a misdemeanor for sexting, DUI or other "enhanced" crimes they will show up almost forever.

It's a misdemeanor. They're lucky they aren't getting charged for felony fraud. Seriously, misdemeanors mean nothing long term. They disappear if you stay god. It will be off their record in a couple years and they might have to start in a community college. If going to community college means you're forever in the underclass, then we have bigger problems.

Just to clear up some of the factually erroneous stuff, job applications commonly ask whether the person have ever been convicted of a crime. It's unlawful to ask if someone has been arrested (though the question appears from time to time), and includes all crimes, felonies and misdemeanors. It doesn't include infractions, which are non-criminal dispositions.

Misdemeanors do not "disappear" from a rap sheet. No prior crime "disappears." It will not be "off their record." People may not be as concerned about it, according to the nature of its use later, but it will be there. NY does not have an expungement statute that removes old offenses.

As for momof4, who writes:

I have a misdemeanor conviction. Hasn't barred me from anything. Does mean I have to explain myself on occasion. So wah wah wah for the poor little rich kids who got caught for once.

This speaks more to your life than anyone else's. You might not want to publicize either the fact of your conviction or that, given the life you lead, it hasn't had an impact. It does not speak well of you.

Oh no, shg thinks I"m low-class! Whatever shall I do? Oh, I know, keep going to nursing school, living in my nice middle class house we own, driving my soccer-mom car, and in general living the life we wish most people would lead. No job has ever cared about it, because when I worked, I was good at my job. What jobs care about is your reccomendations and experience. Unlkess, I suppose, you're applying at McDonalds where the 5 answer application is all you get.

An educated person can get a job almost no matter what. You, I gather, can not. WOrry about yourself and not the rest of us.

momof4, don't listen to shg. I don't think it paints you in a poor light. Our justice system is supposed to be based on rehabilitation. Not that I believe that, but in the broadest sense of it, if someone has a misdemeanor or even a felony, aren't we supposed to look at how they lived their lives afterward or are we now branding those convicted of a crime for life. I know quite a few people who got involved in "teen" kinds of trouble and the cops weren't so nice. They're great people as adults living productive lives. I also knew quite a few who the cops were nice to because of who they knew. They're also living productive lives. The only difference was better connections.

There's another thing to worry about - parents who refuse to acknowledge that cheating should be punished in ANY way.

I seem to remember a case of cheating in a Kansas high school - I think it was before 2000 - and the teacher gave failing grades to all the students who did that, only to have the parents appear on a TV documentary - she was in it too - saying their kids shouldn't have been failed!

Momof4, I think it's wonderful that you're going to nursing school and have a life that you enjoy, and I'm happy to assume its true if you say so. But you've impugned a few million people with criminal records who haven't been able to find the same good life you've found, finding their conviction to have impaired the opportunities they would have otherwise enjoyed.

I doubt it's because you are the most wonderful, hard-working person in the world, and the rest of them are all worthless and useless. Do you think you're that special?

Rather than puff your self-importance and wonderful life anonymously on the internet (you could say you're king of the world, for all anybody knows), consider that your experience isn't necessarily universal, and others who have no enjoyed the magnificence of being you aren't necessarily human garbage. In other words, just because you think you're special doesn't mean everyone else with a criminal record is trash.

On the other hand, your response has the stench of an angry, ignorant person who needs to put all those others with criminal records, who have struggled terribly because of it, down to make herself feel worthwhile. Enjoy your nice middle class house as you begrudge it to others. I hope that makes you feel wonderful about yourself.

I don't think I"m special, shg, which was exactly my point. If I can do it, anyone should be able to with some decent hard work. If they aren't willing to DO the hard work, tough crap for them. Work on your reading comp.

as a former Graduate Assistant TA, I can tell you that these little punks deserve whatever they get. I got so tired of having to catch cheaters constantly on exams, and then having the liberal professors smoothing it over so they just got a "zero" on the test (which they then got to make up). As far as I'm concerned they should be thrown out of school.

These people that paid for this moron to take their tests could have kept other people who did not cheat out of this school. I like the idea of giving them a zero on the SAT and make it available to other campuses that they apply to.

I'm so tired of these cheaters getting away with it. I bet the filthy ACLU jumps in this one...

Cheating should not be tolerated in any form and should be dealt with harshly.