A federal judge is calling for a change in wake of the rise of school children being arrested by police.

On Friday, Judge Carlos F. Lucero of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals published an opinion condemning the arrests of unruly grade school students by police. The judge was addressing a 2012 lawsuit that was filed by the grandparents of a 9-year-old boy whose collarbone was broken as a police officer restrained him at an elementary school in Salt Lake City.

According to the plaintiffs, the cop used excessive force on the youngster after he was caught with a stolen iPad. Because the boy was combative, the officer placed him in a twist lock and handcuffed him. The child was also given a citation for the theft.

Judge Lucero and two other judges on the panel dismissed the lawsuit on Friday, ruling that the officer's actions "simply do not rise to the level of a constitutional violation," reports the Wall Street Journal.

However, the judge published a separate opinion calling for "a change in our jurisprudence that would deal with petty crimes by minors in a more enlightened fashion. The criminal punishment of young schoolchildren leaves permanent scars and unresolved anger, and its far-reaching impact on the abilities of these children to lead future prosperous and productive lives should be a matter of grave concern for us all."

The judge went on and said, "Our present jurisprudence is sending the wrong message to schools. It makes it too easy for educators to shed their significant and important role in that process and delegate it to the police and courts. We should change course and instead leave it to the factfinder to determine whether the handcuffing of 6- to 9-year-old children is excessive force rather than giving schools and police a bye by holding them immune from liability."

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