T
teeboy
Guest
Is Entrapment a just law? Is entrapment a sin?
Entrapment laws vary by nation, and in the US, they vary from state to state. So there’s no one standard. I know that in the U.S., entrapment typically requires more than deception, that it requires some form of coercion. The government agent has to exert pressure on the person that induces them to act in a way they would not have otherwise. The idea behind this is that government agents shouldn’t be turning normally honest folks into criminals just to make arrests.Here is the issue with entrapment.
Per the law, the government needs probable cause to take any action against an individual. In order to illegally obtain probable cause, the government knowingly bears false witness against the individual–the government entraps. We know that the Church teaches that use of an evil act to bring about the end of another evil act is wrong.
Thanks for your post.Entrapment laws vary by nation, and in the US, they vary from state to state. So there’s no one standard. I know that in the U.S., entrapment typically requires more than deception, that it requires some form of coercion. The government agent has to exert pressure on the person that induces them to act in a way they would not have otherwise. The idea behind this is that government agents shouldn’t be turning normally honest folks into criminals just to make arrests.
The current question is related to coercion by a third party under contract with a government agency.The problem I have with your post, teeboy, is that “entrapment” under US law by axiom entails some wrongdoing, i.e., asking “is entrapment a sin?” is like asking, “is burglary a sin,?” where the event is by definition wrong.
The better way to phrase the question would be “is it a sin for the police to set a trap for an unwary criminal by inducing or creating a situation where the criminal is induced to commit a criminal act?”
IMHO no, it is often not. It is morally allowable. If you think otherwise – do you think it is a sin for a policeman to go undercover and pose as someone he’s not, in order to catch a criminal?
Do you mean a situation like when a police informant lures a criminal into a drug deal or something as part of a police sting? I think that it is right to subject those situations to some moral evaluation, yes, because it could be abused if that becomes the only evidence with which to charge a person.The current question is related to coercion by a third party under contract with a government agency.