12-year-old arrested for drawing chalk swastikas

"The severity of a vandalism charge such as juvenile graffiti depends upon the criminal history of the offender and the amount of property damage. Typically, vandalism charges have a threshold of $400, which determines whether the penalties will be misdemeanor or felony charges. When property damage exceeds $400, prosecutors may pursue felony charges. There are exceptions to this rule. Other misdemeanor charges may become felony charges when gang involvement played a role, when the offender has a criminal record or when the vandalism has hate crime implications. A vandalism felony may be considered as a strike under California’s Three Strikes Law."
https://formerdistrictattorneys.com/graffiti-charge/

"In some situations, graffiti will be charged as a felony offense. This typically applies if the graffiti or vandalism is committed as a hate crime against a person or group of people due to their race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation or disability."
http://www.martinezlawhouston.com/Criminal_Defense/Juvenile_Crimes/Vandalism_Graffiti.aspx

Why are you quoting law at me as though I'm disputing the legality of this? Obviously the police found grounds to arrest and charge him. Duh. What I'm disputing is the ethics of the police taking it this far.

But again, it wasn't vandalism. So what you're quoting doesn't even apply here.

Since when is graffiti not vandalism? Whatever, it doesn't matter. Of all the excesses of the US criminal justice system it's some little Nazi punk that brings out the activist in you?

Non-story. Felony vandalism charges for juveniles are not uncommon in the States, especially when it's a hate crime. This probably happens everyday to poor black kids putting up gang tags. What's so special about this little dipshit?

Since when is graffiti not vandalism? Whatever, it doesn't matter. Of all the excesses of the US criminal justice system it's some little Nazi punk that brings out the activist in you?

Chalk on a public playground isn't vandalism. It's perfectly legal, and obviously not what they charged him with (as they couldn't even if they wanted to).

I happened to see this story in the news and decided to share it because it seemed ridiculous to me. If I happen to see another ridiculous-looking story, I'll share that too. Regardless, 'hate crimes' and offensive speech are topical right now.

Would you seriously argue that children's chalk drawing should be considered vandalism?

Would you seriously argue that children's chalk drawing should be considered vandalism?

Shall we round up primary school kids now or later for their vile acts of graffiti?

This is a little bit different to a kid sketching a hopscotch grid on the ground. It quite clearly goes beyond what would be considered acceptable use of chalk. Even if he can't technically be charged with vandalism I imagine most people would be pretty content to describe it as such and wouldn't see too much amiss with treating the case with a similar severity to 'actual' cases of vandalism.

You still haven't addressed my OP, by the way. We've just been arguing over legal precedent and what crime this could technically be, which wasn't what I was disputing. Do you think it's right for police to arrest and charge a 12-year-old with a felony for offensive chalk drawings on a playground?

Would you press those charges? Would you be comfortable potentially screwing up a child's future because he drew some things in chalk that people found offensive?