The difference between Rules and Laws

Billy Humphrey has been suspended indefinitely from the UGA basketball team due to his arrest yesterday. Apparently, it is a felony to posses a knife with a blade longer than 2 inches on university property in this state. Billy was found in possession of a "butterfly knife" while the cops were searching his room for marijuana. According to the Athens Banner Herald:

Investigators searched the athlete's room Tuesday afternoon, after a janitor found marijuana in a trash bag that apparently came from Humphrey's East Campus Village dorm room, according to a search warrant application. They didn't find any drugs in the room, but they did find the knife in question.

Quinton mentioned all of this earlier today, but the news/details around the drug search is what's new.

I've seen some sentiment on message boards that there is some sort of anger towards the cops or UGA administration over the 2 inch knife rule and how this case is being handled.

Please remember -- Cops don't make laws, and neither do University administrators. Administrators make rules. And when you break a rule, it's not a felony.

Some "well meaning" law makers in our state created a rule regarding "weapons" on university property. I'd wager that a similar rule exists for any state funded educational facility (including elementary and high schools). They had to create some sort of definition for what a "weapon" is, and it's Billy's bad luck that his knife was outside of the parameters of that rule.

But forget all of that for a minute. My issues here are:

1. Who throws their weed in the garbage? Why not just flush it down the toilet? I'm definitely not a pot smoker, but that seems like a pretty simple fix. I can't help but call Mercer (his roommate) and/or Humphrey dipshits for this.

2. What sort of janitor complains about finding weed in his garbage? Isn't it in the Janitor Code that you don't talk about what you find in the trash unless it's a severed head? How shabby did the b-ball players treat that janitor to piss him off enough to turn them in for finding weed in the garbage? Did he actually go digging for it? Or did it just stink that much?

3. Why is it that I'm not shocked that Mike Mercer's room is the one with the problem? I continue to believe that he never plays another minute for this program.

Anyway - The rule that states that no player at UGA can participate in sports with an unresolved felony charge hanging over their heads is a good rule written by (in my opinion) a wise administrator. That's why Billy was suspended.

The problem is the law is harsh, and I'm not sure that a misdemeanor wouldn't make more sense. It is what it is.

That said. If you have enough weed in your garbage that the cops can get a warrant to search your dorm room, then you're not going to get the benefit of the doubt very often.

That's especially true when you make a conscious decision to cover yourself in cheap tattoos and turn yourself into a walking billboard screaming "DEAR SMALL TOWN COPS, PLEASE PROFILE ME!" Also, it doesn't help to hang out with guys that have warrants out for their arrest while the cops are searching your room. Have some common sense guys. I mean seriously.

This basketball season continues to spiral out of control towards catastrophe, and we're not even in December yet.

PWD

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