U.S. justice may be governed by laws rather than men, but statutes and precedents cannot cover every novel situation. It is often a judge ruling on an appeal who decides how the law meshes with the facts. Recent examples:
> Bill Raymond, 12, of Sacramento, Calif., snooped around his father's bedroom and found a leafy substance in a dresser drawer. The boy shared his discovery with a deputy sheriff who told the youth that it was marijuana. Later, while another sheriff's man waited in a nearby car, the youth again searched the bedroom and came up with more...