Court Opinion

ID: 9741488
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 20:56:33.152202+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:24:24.387344
License: Public Domain

Lynch, J.
(dissenting). I agree with Justice O’Connor, post, that today’s decision overrules O’Connor v. Police Comm’r of Boston, supra, and write separately only to reiterate my views concerning the application of the balancing test the court formulated in Commonwealth v. Shields, 402 Mass. 162 (1988), and Commonwealth v. Trumble, 396 Mass. 81 (1985). Simmered down to its essence, the court’s decision stands for the proposition that police officers who carry guns and are employed in an extremely stressful environment are entitled to a greater protection of their privacy than are the average law abiding citizens of the Commonwealth, who happen to engage in their peaceful pursuits on our public highways. See Commonwealth v. Trumble, supra. To paraphrase what I said in Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Ass’n, Inc. v. State Racing Comm’n, 403 Mass. 692, 710 (1989) (Lynch, J., dissenting), I would willingly sacrifice the drug testing of police officers for the right of citizens to be free from warrantless seizure absent probable cause or reasonable suspicion. Since I do not have that option, the illusive standards of the court’s balancing test lead me to a contrary result.