WE DO SOMETIMES LIKE TO BE PETTY TYRANTS AT GRADUATIONS IN AMERICA

My last post was about a four people who were issued arrest warrants in Senatobia, Mississippi, for cheering at a high school graduation. Now I learn from The New York Times that this has happened before in America:

Indeed, the Senatobia authorities are not the first in the United States to pursue charges in the wake of an outburst at a graduation ceremony, but such prosecutions are rare (there were news accounts, for example, of one in South Carolina in 2012).

Yup:

Shannon Cooper cheered as her daughter walked across the stage to get her diploma from South Florence High School Saturday night, but just minutes later, Shannon was handcuffed and arrested....

Florence police charged Shannon with disorderly conduct.

She said officers walked her across the Florence Civic Center, where the graduation ceremony was being held, in full view of everyone, including her daughter, Iesha Cooper, 18.

That was in 2012. Also in 2012, there was this:

The Ohio student who was denied his diploma because his family cheered excessively at Mount Healthy High School commencement is trying to resolve the hold-up without fulfilling the school district's disciplinary measure.

Anthony Cornist has rejected Mt. Healthy City School District's requirement that he complete 20 hours of community service to obtain his diploma, according to a letter sent Wednesday from attorney Erik W. Laursen to school superintendent Lori Handler.

If you're wondering, in this case, the student was black and the school superintendent was white. But in the South Carolina case, both the arrested mother and the police chief who defended the arrest were African-American.

And then this happened to a white student in Oklahoma, also in 2012:

A straight-A student in Oklahoma was denied her high school diploma this week after she used the word "hell" in her graduation speech.

Prague High School valedictorian Kaitlin Nootbaar found inspiration from the movie "Eclipse: The Twilight Saga" during her May speech, alluding to instances where people ask new graduates what they want to do with their lives. "How the hell do I know?" she told her classmates, according to KFOR in Oklahoma City. "I've changed my mind so many times."

The comment received laughter and applause from the audience and Nootbaar didn't think anything was wrong until she and her father David went to pick up her real certificate last week. When she arrived at the school, her principal said, "Your diploma is right here but you're not getting it. Close the door we have a problem," according to KFOR....

David Nootbaar said the principal told Kaitlin that she would have to write an apology for using the word before she could receive her diploma....

Kaitlin, who will soon be heading to college on a full scholarship, told KFOR that she did not plan on writing an apology to the school -- a choice her family supports.

Well, at least she wasn't arrested, right?