Jacob Sullum on the Unjust Law That Led to Freddie Gray's Death
One charge was conspicuously absent from the indictments that a Baltimore grand jury issued last Thursday in connection with the death of Freddie Gray from injuries he suffered in police custody. The three cops who arrested Gray—Lt. Brian Rice, plus Officers Garrett Miller and Edward Nero—are no longer charged with false imprisonment.
That change reflects a dispute about the legality of the knife Gray was carrying, which was the official justification for his arrest. But Jacob Sullum says the same fuzziness that works to the officers' advantage discredits the law they say they were enforcing.