BRICKBATS.

• Author: Oliver, Charles
• Position: Police interrogation using snake; using school buses to prom; DNA sample for volunteering

Police in Indonesia held a suspected cellphone thief down, draped a live snake around his shoulders, and rubbed the man's face with snake's head in an attempt to coerce a confession from him. Video of the interrogation shows the man screaming in fear. "The investigator was not professional in doing his job," Police Chief Tonny Ananda Swadaya said in a statement apologizing for the incident.

New Jersey's Lakeland Regional High School has banned students from taking limousines or private party buses to the prom. Students can only use transportation provided by the school. Officials say the move is about both safety and equity--limos can be expensive to rent.

Want to volunteer in your child's school? A proposed Arizona law would require you to provide a DNA sample and pay $250 in order to perform any activity that currently requires fingerprinting, including school volunteering. The state would keep the sample and link it to your Social Security number, last known address, and other personal information. The bill allows the state to share the sample with other government agencies and with anyone doing "legitimate research."

A Los Angeles county sheriff's deputy has pleaded guilty to his role in a theft from a legal marijuana business that netted more than half a ton of weed and $600,000 in cash. Marc Antrim was off duty but wearing a sheriff's office jacket and driving a sheriff's office SUV at the time. He and his partners pulled up to the firm's security gate, showed a fake warrant, locked up the guards, and robbed the place.

A Saskatchewan man wants a personalized license plate with his last name on it. But officials have told Dave Assman his request is "unacceptable."

The Boston Police Department has opened an investigation of a cop who had his service weapon stolen by two strippers while off duty in Rhode Island.

Utah's Davis School District says it is investigating a fourth-grade teacher who forced a student to wipe an Ash Wednesday cross...