Dear Pastor,

Some years ago I had an experience that I wish to relate to you. I was not well so I contacted a pharmacy which had a delivery service as I needed some medication. I had a prescription which allowed me to get a repeat of the type of medication I needed. A friend who had just returned from abroad came to see me. He brought with him some hard-core magazines that he bought in Europe. He was selling them so I bought three of them from him.

A few minutes after he left, the pharmacy sent my medication. The delivery man took up one copy while I went to the bedroom to get the money. I forgot that I had left the magazines on the table. I took it from him and told him that he should not be looking at that kind of stuff. He said that he had looked at that kind of stuff before. I gave him the money and he left.

About an hour after, a friend came to see me and told me to get out of my apartment. The boy went back to the store and told one of his friends about the magazines he saw. The pharmacist heard him and questioned him and called the police. The police came and searched my premises but did not find the magazines because I had hidden them.

They took me to the station and beat me. They called me a Negro. One of them kicked me in my groin. One of them asked me if I was one of the bad boys from Kingston, Jamaica. I couldn't take the beating anymore so I told them where to find the magazines.

I spent the night in jail. I was a new immigrant in Canada. I did not know my rights and the police hated Jamaicans with a passion, so they made an example of me. And in those days, racial prejudice was rampant in Canada and the United States.

One night at a particular place I spotted the delivery boy. He was in the company of another man. He said he was sorry for the trouble he caused me. He said he was just talking to friends at the pharmacy about the magazines and the pharmacist heard him and called the police. I did not touch that young man.

On the day of the trial, my lawyer told me to plead guilty. I was put on two years probation. If I knew what I know now, I would have never pleaded guilty for something I did not do. When I met with the probation officer, he told me to relate the whole story to him. When I told him the story, he said that it is because I am black why the police treated me so badly. He told me that he is taking me off probation, so I should not come back. I did not say a word in court. It was my lawyer who entered the guilty plea.

L., Canada

Dear L.,

I don't understand what was the charge that was laid against you. You did not make that clear in your letter. It appears that it had to do with the young man who came to your house and delivered your medication and took up the pornographic magazine. I am glad that you did not have to face jail time. You feel that your lawyer did not represent you well in court. Perhaps he felt that after looking at the evidence, plea bargaining was the best way to go.

Again, I say, I am glad you didn't have to spend time in prison.

Pastor