Leading up the race for most pathetic tactics used by law enforcement is a recent case out of Palm Beach Florida. The story featured on “This American Life” told the tale of 18-year-old Justin Laboy, an honor student at Park Vista Community High School. In this story Justin fell in love with a 25 year old undercover police officer that had been sent into his school.
When Justin met the undercover cop he was smitten very quickly and was hoping she would be his new girlfriend. When they were speaking once she asked him to procure a small amount of Marijuana for her. Hoping to get into her good graces (or maybe a little more) he got her the pot. She had him arrested.
Now Justin is facing a felony charge and will be barred from joining the military, which was his goal after graduation.
Good police work or pure entrapment?
The definition of criminal entrapment is when law enforcement agents convince someone to do something they wouldn’t ordinarily do and then arrest them for it. Justin’s case seems to fit squarely into this category.
Tony Newman, director of media relations at the Drug Policy Alliance and a Huffington Post blogger writes,
“How do these cops look themselves in the mirror? Seducing 18-year-olds to fall in love or pretending to be friends and then tricking them into procuring small amounts of marijuana so they can charge them with felonies is beyond slimy and diametrically opposed to the officers’ charge to “serve and protect.”
Do you think what the officers are doing is right or are they just hurting kids for no good reason?
