In response to an SAT cheating scandal that took place in an affluent New York City suburb this fall, a bill has been proposed that would make cheating on the college entrance exam a felony crime.

The SAT cheating bill would punish students who have impersonators take the tests and also punish the impersonators themselves. The bill creates new felonies called, the "facilitation of education testing fraud" and "scheming to defraud educational testing."

Students would need to prove their identification before taking the tests with photo IDs, and possibly with fingerprint and retinal scans, according to a news report.

Several hearings on preventing cheating were held in New York after a cheating scandal erupted in Nassau County, New York, in September. In that case, 20 people were accused of involvement in a scheme in which imposters were allegedly paid between $500 and $3,600 to take the tests in place of the high school students.

Students in that case were charged with falsifying business records and fraud, among other things. So, it appears cheating is already a crime in New York.

Whether New York can legally pass this legislation remains unclear. The College Board, which administers the SAT, is not a law enforcement agency. This means it would be difficult for the state to ask it to act like one.

Additionally, The College Board has a presence in all 50 states, which would mean that it may be the federal government who would have to enforce something like this, rather than states.

Opponents have told legislators that the bill is not realistic. Most cheating is of a much smaller scale, they say, involving cellphones, wandering eyes and old-fashioned methods, rather than paid impersonators.

As it stands, when children under 16 are charged with crimes, the case is generally heard in family court. Children over 16 are often dealt with in criminal court. In addition to the legal consequences, children may have their future educational and professional opportunities compromised by a criminal conviction.

It is very important that children who have been charged with any crime have advocates in the courtroom in order to avoid overly-harsh charges and consequences.

Source: Huffington Post, "NY Bill Would Make Crimes Out Of SAT Cheating," Michael Gormley, Jan. 24, 2012

Source: FindLaw, "SAT Cheating Should Be a Crime: NY Bill," Stephanie Rabiner, Feb. 1, 2012