A Concord, New Hampshire principal tricked a student into delivering two small bags of marijuana to a police ambush behind Bishop Brady High School. Principal Jean Barker took it upon herself to set up seventeen year old Concord High School senior John Huckins.
After Confiscating another student's cellphone it received a message from Huckins asking "Yo, you need a bag." Presuming that Huckins was referring to marijuana she immediately attempted to get Huckins to come sell two bags of marijuana in the school parking lot. Huckins was immediately skeptical of the deal, nevertheless Barker was able to coax him into delivering the bags.
Huckins arrived at school and was apprehended by the police. A quarter-ounce of marijuana was confiscated from Huckins person. Later he told the police that he used the drug to deal with anxiety issues according to the police report.
Barker attempted to defend her actions claiming that Huckin's willingness to bring marijuana to the school placed her school at risk. [2]
Many other questions however remain unanswered. Immediately one must ask what gave the principal the right to use the student's cell phone to entrap Huckins? While texting illegal drug sales is never a good idea, what could give Barker the right to look at someone's personal message. This whole case stems back to a major invasion of privacy. If you open someone's mail it is a federal crime. I can't seem to understand why Barker's actions in opening the message wouldn't be?
Huckins attorney Mark Howard makes an even more valid point,
"It is a crime in the state of New Hampshire to elicit a drug offense if you are not either a police officer or working under the direction of a police officer,"So now we get into more legal issues in regards to this would-be Drug Warrior. In attempting to take the Drug War into her own hands Jean Barker only incriminated herself.
Huckins on the other hand is in a fight to be able to continue his education. Originally suspended for ten days he has now been kicked out of school for the rest of the year and risks losing his acceptance to college. Huckins had no criminal record prior to this event, now he deals with the risk of 7 years in jail for the quarter of marijuana he had that day.