Pubdate: Tue, 14 Apr 2009
Source: Tallahassee Democrat (FL)
Copyright: 2009 Tallahassee Democrat
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/hdEs6Z0o
Website: http://www.tallahassee.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/444

'RACHEL'S LAW CLEARS ANOTHER LEGISLATIVE HURDLE

Supporters of "Rachel's Law" said Monday they are girding for a floor
fight after a compromise measure regulating the use of confidential
informants cleared its latest hurdle.

"The bill is better than the current chaos, clearly," Tallahassee
attorney Lance Block said after a House committee unanimously approved
the watered-down measure.

The bill still has at least one more committee stop before it reaches
the floor, where Block said he will ask sponsors to make a last-ditch
attempt to strengthen it.

The bill (CSHB 271) by Rep. Peter Nehr, R-Tarpon Springs, would
require law-enforcement agencies to adopt written policies about the
use of confidential informants and to "consider" such things as the
informant's age and maturity and the risk of "physical harm."

Rachel Hoffman was killed last year while working as an informant in
an undercover drug sting for the Tallahassee Police Department.

Hoffman's parents want to prohibit sending informants who are in
treatment on drug stings, using nonviolent informants to ensnare
criminals with a violent history and to force police to notify
potential recruits that they have a right to talk to an attorney.

"Any one of these things would have saved Rachel's life," said Margie
Weiss, Rachel's mother.

Powerful law-enforcement groups insist that the bill would deny them
their most valuable crime-fighting tool. 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake