MINORS AS INFORMANTS

Chad MacDonald of Yorba Linda wasn't working for the cops the day in March
he went to an alleged drug house in Norwalk and was beaten and killed. But
the slaying had all the makings of revenge for the 17-year-old boy's role
as a police snitch, a job into which he was thrust after his arrest on drug
charges earlier this year.

Soon the state Assembly will vote on legislation to create important new
safeguards ensuring that police eager to bust drug dealers do not
recklessly jeopardize the lives of minors.

The bill, inspired by Mr. MacDonald's death, deserves to pass and be signed
into law.

Introduced by Assemblyman Scott Baugh of Huntington Beach, the measure
would prohibit the use of children under age 15 as informants. It would
require a parent and a judge to approve before police could use a minor
aged 15 through 17 in an undercover operation.

Mr. Baugh originally sought to ban the use of minors altogether, but backed
off a bit under pressure from law enforcement groups concerned about limits
on their investigative powers.

He says the current version of his bill will give minors the protection
they deserve while still giving police the flexibility he thinks they need.

"There may be a possibility that the cops would want to use a kid, and it
would be beneficial to pursuing some type of crime, but the question is, at
what price?" Mr. Baugh told us. "I can't imagine that a judge would sign
off on putting a kid in harm's way."

We're not sure Mr. Baugh's faith in the system is well placed. Judges can
be as prone as police and prosecutors to mistakes born of zeal. But a more
sweeping ban on the use of under-age informants probably would not have
survived an attack from the powerful law enforcement lobby.

Most law enforcement groups now have dropped their opposition to the bill.
And Mr. Baugh has gained an important ally in Democratic Assemblywoman
Carole Migden of San Francisco, the powerful chairwoman of the
Appropriations Committee. The bill recently cleared the Assembly Public
Safety Committee on an bipartisan, 8-0 vote.

The measure is a step in the right direction. The nation's war on drugs, no
matter how well intentioned, is a folly that causes as many problems as it
solves. The coerced conscription of minors as foot soldiers in that war is
but one of its many damaging side effects. The sooner such a practice can
be brought under control, the better.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski