Ind. Alcohol Sting Illegal, Lawsuit Claims

A lawsuit filed by a group of Indiana liquor-store owners claims that an underage-sales sting organized by the Substance Abuse Council of Vanderburgh County was illegal, the Associated Press reported June 11.

The lawsuit says that the group illegally sent underage college students into liquor stores to attempt to buy alcohol; clerks who did not check the IDs of the students were cited for violating state liquor laws.

"The way they are doing it is entrapment," said Cindy Brackett, manager of Shamrock Package Liquors. "We don't want to serve minors. This is a store where you must be 21 to come in."

But the county group contends that it has the legal right to run the stings, and that the liquor stores cannot sue because the council is a government agency. Officials noted that police supervised the operation and that students were told not to complete alcohol purchases if they were not carded.

The sting program has been suspended until the case is resolved.

About 20 percent of liquor-store clerks sold alcohol to the underage students, the council said. The operation was funded by the U.S. Justice Department.