MUST TAKE ISSUE

I must take issue with Harry Stewart's letter regarding the recent Boyce
case from the U.S. Court of Appeals. I find it disturbing that a citizen of
a free country sees no problem with agents of the government stopping and
searching vehicles with nothing more than a hunch. I do not want to live in
a country where government agents can stop me without cause, make me show
my papers and search my person and vehicle. Thankfully, our Constitution
protects us from such abuse.

The issue in the Boyce case was whether the deputy had reasonable suspicion
to lengthen the detention of Mr. Boyce beyond the reason for the initial
traffic stop. Far from making a confession, Mr. Boyce denied that he
possessed any drugs and would not consent to a search of his vehicle. On
page five of the court's opinion, the court recites the facts as follows,
"Ethe drug dogs arrived and alerted on Boyce's trunk. Once the dog alerted,
the police searched Boyce's car."

The court found that the deputy did not have sufficient cause to make Mr.
Boyce wait for a police dog to come to the scene and sniff his car. The
court based its decision not on a hunch but on long-standing principles of
justice found in the United States Constitution, a document that protects
all citizens.

Rick Waller

Macon