A 14-year-old pranked his teacher and now an overzealous sheriff wants to make him a felon.  

Domanik Green, a student at Paul R. Smith Middle School, is being charged for “hacking” into the school’s computer system. His crime? Changing his teacher’s computer wallpaper. All across America children pull pranks, misguided attempts to be funny, and rarely are they punished so severely. If convicted, Domanik will endure long lasting consequences including ­­difficult job prospects and a loss of voting rights. Is this justice?

Tell Sheriff Chris Nocco and Detective Anthony Bossone to go after real criminals and not to criminalize a child for a prank.

Both the school and the sheriff admit that they found no evidence that he tampered with or even intended to tamper with the network. He simply logged on, uploaded a new background to the computer, and logged off. However, to send a message, law enforcement will ruin this child’s life before it even begins.

The Sheriff has gone so far as to threaten other students who may have of accessed the teacher portal before with the same fate.

Students around the school say that teachers' passwords are no secret. Teachers regularly enter them in front of students and it didn’t take long to learn it was the last name of each teacher. Domanik understands what he did is wrong. And he understands why officials are so upset, but isn’t the 10 day suspension that he has already incurred  punishment enough? There is no need to senselessly and overzealously destroy a young person’s life.

Let’s stop Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco and Detective Anthony Bossone from turning a harmless prank into a lifetime of legal woes. Tell them to drop Domanik Green’s charges.