U.S. Magistrate Ronald N. Boyce's passing this week leaves a considerable void in Utah's legal community. Whether lawyers knew Judge Boyce as a professor at the University of Utah College of Law or a federal court magistrate, his immense knowledge of the law and his nose-to-the-grindstone work ethic were renown.
Judge Boyce, who died early Monday at University Hospital from complications stemming from pneumonia, was a 1957 graduate of the U. College of Law. He began his long teaching tenure at the law school in 1966, specializing in evidence, sentencing and corrections, and criminal law.
Boyce taught literally thousands of students and he was considered an authoritative writer. He was author of the Utah Prosecutor Handbook and was co-author of "Criminal Law and Criminal Law and Procedure." In 1974, he was named the U. law school professor of the year.
Boyce began his career in the federal bench in 1984 when he was named a part-time magistrate, but he went full-time a few years later. In 1997, he became chief magistrate.
Over the years, he juggled his teaching load and federal court responsibilities with great aplomb. In the mid-1980s, Boyce was honored as the U. College of Law's faculty achievement award.
Members of Utah's bar considered him a fine legal scholar who demanded intense preparation from his law students. Students and long-time members of the bar alike marveled at his ability to recite case law from memory.
Boyce's broad knowledge of the law served him well as Utah judges rarely reversed his decisions. One exception was his ruling that criminal charges against Olympic bid leaders Tom Welch and Dave Johnson would stand. U.S. District Judge David Sam dismissed all charges, but the case remains on appeal before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Boyce was said to have an innate interest in the law that was an unceasing satisfaction to him. Scott Matheson Jr., dean of the U. College of Law, in a recent Deseret News article aptly summed up Boyce's love of the law: "He loved the law as much as anything, with the obvious exception of his wife, Darlene.
"His discipline and dedication and his thirst for knowledge knew no limits. I feel like we've lost a giant redwood in the forest of the law."
What a fitting tribute to a remarkable teacher, jurist and man.