IT'S ABOUT CRIME, NOT COP

Rick Waller recently responded to a letter of mine. The subject was
the Boyce case, which was overturned by the 11th Circuit Court of
Appeals. In this case, Boyce was found with 10,000 ecstasy pills and
two large containers of marijuana. No one disputes this fact. The
guilt of Mr. Boyce doesn't seem to matter. All that matters is what
the police did.

The officer was in a difficult position, evidenced by the fact that
the decision to overturn was made by a circuit court. A district court
had already decided the officer's actions were legal. Unlike the
officer, both courts had more time, better surroundings, and superior
legal training to help them ponder the situation. How can we expect
the officer to make the constitutionally correct choice when two
courts can't even agree what's right?

So let's assume there were indeed two illegal acts on I-95 that night.
One by a police officer and the other by a drug courier. Which is more
dangerous to a law-abiding society?

Recently, a former local newscaster was found guilty of being under
the influence of drugs in a traffic accident that killed an woman.
We'll never know whether Boyce ever delivered drugs that resulted in
death or not. We do know that a police officer tried to stop a drug
courier, and the 11th Circuit Court let him go free.

Boyce was guilty. Whether the cop was right or wrong will never change
that fact.

Harry Stewart

Warner Robins