Entrapment pg 22 | The Illustrated Guide to Law

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Nathan

The Illustrated Guide to Criminal Law
Chapter 12: I Was Entrapped!
Entrapment pg 22: Undercover Police Committing Crimes

(There are limits on what crimes undercovers can engage in. They can’t hurt someone, for example, or conduct illegal wiretaps or otherwise violate their targets’ constitutional rights.

But they are allowed to commit crimes incidental to their undercover role. So a cop posing as an addict is allowed to buy and possess drugs. And Saul was allowed to do so in his role as dealer.)

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Join the conversation! There are now 9 comments on this chapter's page 42. Some Things Undercovers Can Do. What are your thoughts?

Chris Katko says

So couldn’t you require new recruits to hurt people as part of their hiring process to stop undercover police officers?

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- Kereth says
  in reply to Chris Katko
  
  I don’t know how relaible my sources are, but I’ve understood that happens. In context of this, it could shed new light on why.
  
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  - Halykan says
    in reply to Kereth
    
    The problem with this approach is that in order to prevent the undercover cops from going through with it, it must be a crime, at which point you are guilty of solicitation the moment you require it of them. Assuming you do this to all your new hires, they’re likely to know about it, and can simply go in knowing they’ll bag you for that crime instead.
    
    Admittedly, they’d probably rather nab you for the greater crimes you’ve committed, but something beats nothing I’m sure.
    
    Reply ↓
    - Chappell says
      in reply to Halykan
      
      That’s true of the person who asks. Except undercover operations would generally be considered a horrendous failure if all they caught was the small fry, and only for handling the initiation. In theory at least, they tend to have specific, large-scale goals.
      
      Reply ↓
- Jeff Heikkinen says
  in reply to Chris Katko
  
  That’s supposedly the reason why having killed someone is a de facto requirement for becoming a “made man” in the mafia.
  
  Reply ↓
Legion says

Makes a certain brutal sense out of gang-rape/sex as an initiation.
“Prove you’re not a cop; service this rugby league.”

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- WJS says
  in reply to Legion
  
  I’m pretty sure blowing a rugby team isn’t illegal (in most states, anyway). The cop wouldn’t be prohibited from doing that at all.
  
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  - Gregory Bogosian says
    in reply to WJS
    
    Wouldn’t any statute that prohibited servicing a rugby team be unconstitutional under Lawrence V Texas? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_v._Texas
    
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Shashakiro says

Question: Is the remedy for violation of this rule (e.g. police hurting someone) really dismissal of the charges?

I suspect it’s not, which makes this one of those “And even if they did, it STILL wouldn’t be entrapment” things.

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