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It was wrong for two McMinnville, Ore., middle school boys to swat the behinds of their female classmates last year. It was boorish behavior that should have been reprimanded by school officials and parents. And certainly the girls had every right to complain and demand that it stop.

Beyond that, though, what's troubling about that particular case is that it prompted two separate instances of official overreaction.

First, the boys were arrested on charges of felony sex abuse. Poor judgment and inexcusable behavior are not acceptable, but does it justify arresting the boys on a felony charge? And "sex abuse" is not something to be bandied about lightly, in deference to the really serious nature of such offenses.

Thank goodness those charges, which should be reserved for serious crimes that hurt people, were ultimately dropped.

Then came the second suspect action. Before a public outcry resulted in the charges being dropped, the boys were jailed for five days and were reportedly strip-searched multiple times. Along with four other plaintiffs, they have now filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Yamhill County, contending that juveniles held for minor crimes were subjected to unnecessary searches without reasonable suspicion.

Strip-searches have their place, but this wasn't one of them.

We're not advocating taking away a proven method of keeping contraband and weapons out of prison populations. However, we would hope that officials would use such invasive searches only when necessary, and on a need-to-know basis when dealing with young people, those who haven't yet been convicted of anything.

Boorish behavior best dealt with by schools and parents is unacceptable, but so is double-barreled overreaction in the local law and justice system. This incident seems to be a good example of punishment that didn't fit the "crime" of swatting girls' behinds.

Maybe this is one of those times when one could yearn for the return of corporal punishment in the form of grab-your-ankles-while-the-dreaded-paddle was applied briskly to the behind of the perpetrator(s).

That at least would have been a good quid pro quo match.

* Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Michael Shepard, Sarah Jenkins, Bill Lee and Karen Troianello.