Tulia, Texas and the ACLU Fights Back - So Can YOU PLEASE COPY AND DISTRIBUTE DrugSense FOCUS Alert #187 Saturday, 7 October 2000 During the past week newspapers across the land carried stories about the small Texas town of Tulia, in which the ACLU accuses law enforcement of ethnic cleansing which resulted in roughly 12 percent of the town's black population - and almost a third of the town's young black men - being arrested. While the ACLU will show in court that this was a well thought out plan to take these black men off the streets, this is just a more visible example of how the War on Drugs has become a tool for racists. One has only to look at the well documented facts at http://www.csdp.org/factbook/racepris.htm to see the pattern. Please write a letter to both the LA Times and NY Times to remind editors and readers that the dark side of prohibition is it's impact on racial minorities. WRITE A LETTER TODAY It's not what others do it's what YOU do PLEASE SEND US A COPY OF YOUR LETTER OR TELL US WHAT YOU DID (Letter, Phone, fax etc.) Please post a copy your letter or report your action to the sent letter list () if you are subscribed, or by E-mailing a copy directly to Your letter will then be forwarded to the list with so others can learn from your efforts and be motivated to follow suit This is VERY IMPORTANT as it is the only way we have of gauging our impact and effectiveness. CONTACT INFO: Source: New York Times Contact: Source: Los Angeles Times Contact: EXTRA CREDIT Please consider sending additional letters to the following newspapers. The story and contact information is at the URL: URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1482/a09.html Pubdate: Thu, 05 Oct 2000 Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA) Email: URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1477/a04.html Pubdate: Wed, 4 Oct 2000 Source: Amarillo Globe-News (TX) Email: URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1475/a04.html Pubdate: Wed, 4 Oct 2000 Source: Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (TX) Email: URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1475/a06.html Pubdate: Wed, 4 Oct 2000 Source: Dallas Morning News (TX) Email: URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1472/a10.html Pubdate: Mon, 02 Oct 2000 Source: Register-Guard, The (OR) Email: URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1470/a08.html Pubdate: Tue, 3 Oct 2000 Source: Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (TX) Email: URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1457/a03.html Pubdate: Sun, 01 Oct 2000 Source: Houston Chronicle (TX) Email: ARTICLE ONE URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1493.a02.html Pubdate: Sat, 7 Oct 2000 Source: New York Times (NY) Copyright: 2000 The New York Times Company Contact: Address: 229 West 43rd Street, New York, NY 10036 Fax: (212) 556-3622 Website: http://www.nytimes.com/ Forum: http://forums.nytimes.com/comment/ Author: Jim Yardley THE HEAT IS ON A TEXAS TOWN AFTER THE ARRESTS OF 40 BLACKS TULIA, Tex., Oct. 4 -- On the morning of July 23, 1999, Billy Wafer, a forklift driver, was swept up in the biggest drug sting in local history: In this town of only 4,500 people, 43 suspects were arrested on charges of selling small amounts of cocaine. In some cases, hometown juries later meted out sentences ranging from 20 years to more than 300 years. In Tulia, an isolated place ringed by cotton farms and cattle ranches on the high plains of the Texas panhandle, local officials declared the operation a stunning success. In all, 22 of the defendants were sent to prison while others received probation. The undercover agent at the center of the operation, Tom Coleman, was even named by the state as lawman of the year. But more than a year later, an operation once hailed as a victory in the war on drugs now has civil rights groups and local minorities asking whether it was really a war on blacks. All but three of the 43 defendants were black, an enormous percentage considering blacks make up less than 10 percent of the town's population. In fact, roughly 12 percent of the town's black population was arrested. The doubts raised about the racial makeup of the group arrested are compounded by contentions that the investigation was flimsy at best. The sole evidence in nearly every case was the word of Mr. Coleman, whose own character had come under criticism in the past. There were no videotapes or wiretaps or, in most cases, any corroborating witnesses. "They declared war on this community," said Sammy Barrow, a black resident with four relatives who were arrested. "You either were going to get a long term in the penitentiary or you were going to get enough of a deterrent to get out of here." So now Tulia itself is on trial: last week, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on behalf of a defendant whose case was dismissed in February, apparently because of a false identification. The suit accuses local officials of singling out blacks to run them out of town. Next week, the A.C.L.U. plans to file a civil rights complaint with the Justice Department seeking to revoke financing for the agencies that ran the sting. [snip - Please click the URL above for the rest of this long article] ARTICLE TWO URL: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00.n1492.a06.html Pubdate: Sat, 07 Oct 2000 Source: Los Angeles Times (CA) Copyright: 2000 Los Angeles Times Contact: Address: Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles, CA 90053 Fax: (213) 237-7679 Website: http://www.latimes.com/ Forum: http://www.latimes.com/discuss/ Author: Hector Tobar, Times Staff Writer A QUESTION OF MOTIVE DOGS TEXAS PANHANDLE DRUG BUST Tulia: One of every six blacks was arrested. Some residents see raid as state-sponsored 'ethnic cleansing.' TULIA, Texas--The officers and deputies came in the morning. They arrested pig farmers and warehouse workers, single mothers and lithe young men who once were heroes for the town's pride and joy--its high school football team. Forty-three people in all. The biggest drug raid in Swisher County's history also was the worst day in memory for Tulia's small, tightknit African American community. In a matter of hours, one of every six black residents had been indicted for selling cocaine. At first, hardly anyone raised a voice in protest. The local paper celebrated the roundup of the "scumbags" corrupting the town's children. Those few who had doubts kept quiet, except for one man--a self-described "hick farmer" and gadfly named Gary Gardner. Thanks in part to his efforts, Tulia now stands divided by a controversy that has thrust this town of 5,000 in the drought-stricken Texas Panhandle into the national debate about drugs, race and the criminal justice system. Sentiment here began to turn after a series of revelations about the white undercover agent who had set up the July 1999 sting, a journeyman deputy with a tainted past whose word was the only evidence against most of the defendants. That information led the American Civil Liberties Union last week to file a federal civil rights lawsuit against the county, charging that the arrests were racially motivated. "I just worked the facts and the facts show that a lot of these people aren't guilty," said Gardner, a large man with a pinkish complexion and a penchant for foul language. "It's like a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle you dump on the floor, and years later it begins to make sense." In the last year, Tulia's one-bench courthouse has hosted 11 drug trials, each one ending with a conviction, most without a single black on the jury. Many of those convicted have received long, Texas-size sentences for selling relatively small amounts of cocaine--crimes big-city prosecutors and judges likely would punish with a few years of probation. The most recent trial ended last month with the conviction of Kareem Abdul Jabbar White, who got 60 years for selling one-eighth of an ounce of cocaine (street value: about $150). "These drug traffickers have been a cancer on our community long enough," one local paper editorialized. "It's time to give them a major dose of chemotherapy behind bars." Buoyed by such sentiments, the county district attorney and sheriff have defended the drug raid and the aggressive prosecution. "We're not a lynching county," said Swisher County Dist. Atty. Terry McEachern. "This is a community that's tough on drugs." Some See Different Agenda And no one denies that Tulia has a drug problem. Rural communities have the nation's fastest growing rate of cocaine and heroin use. But to some here it seems that, at best, the local authorities rounded up a bunch of small-time users--many had previous arrests for petty offenses--and treated them as if they were million-dollar drug kingpins. "These are the young people we're supposed to be trying to help," said Charles Kiker, a retired Baptist preacher and one of a small but growing circle of residents who have denounced the raid as government-sponsored "ethnic cleansing." "It's not the drugs they're after," said Mattie White, a guard at a nearby state prison who had three adult children arrested in the raid, including Kareem. "They don't want these kids in this town." To these critics, the allegations behind the drug sting are patently absurd: Tulia is a poor, hardscrabble community. And yet the defendants were charged with selling powder cocaine, a rich man's habit. And why, they ask, were no guns, drug paraphernalia or large amounts of cash seized in the raid? "You see how small this town is?" asked Billy Wafer, a warehouse worker who was arrested in the 1999 raid but was later freed by a judge. "How can 43 drug dealers survive in this community? Everybody in this town would have to be a drug user." William Harrell, executive director of the Texas ACLU, calls the Tulia case "the most blatant example of police and prosecutorial misconduct I've seen in my entire career." Harrell has petitioned federal authorities to launch a criminal investigation. [snip - Please click the URL above for the rest of this long article] SAMPLE LETTER Dear Editor: RE: [insert title and Pubdate of article here] While what happened in Tulia, Texas -- the arrest and sentencing to very long prison terms of a large share of the town's young black men under the guise of the War on Drugs -- should shock every American, it is only the tip of the iceberg. According to the federal Household Survey, "most current illicit drug users are white. There were an estimated 9.9 million whites (72 percent of all users), 2.0 million blacks (15 percent), and 1.4 million Hispanics (10 percent) who were current illicit drug users in 1998." And yet, blacks constitute 36.8% of those arrested for drug violations, over 42% of those in federal prisons for drug violations. African-Americans comprise almost 60% of those in state prisons for drug felonies; Hispanics account for 22.5%. Thus it is clear that our drug laws, and their mandatory minimum punishments, are now a tool for racists - America's tool for ethnic cleansing. It is time to consider common sense drug policies -- policies based on public health and honest education instead of law enforcement. Richard Lake Note to the Editor: I found the fact from the household survey, well documented, at item six on this webpage: http://www.csdp.org/factbook/racepris.htm IMPORTANT: Always include your address and telephone number Please note: If you choose to use this letter as a model please modify it at least somewhat so that the paper does not receive numerous copies of the same letter and so that the original author receives credit for his/her work. ADDITIONAL INFO to help you in your letter writing efforts 3 Tips for Letter Writers http://www.mapinc.org/3tips.htm Letter Writers Style Guide http://www.mapinc.org/style.htm TO SUBSCRIBE, DONATE, VOLUNTEER TO HELP, OR UPDATE YOUR EMAIL SEE http://www.drugsense.org/hurry.htm TO UNSUBSCRIBE SEE http://www.drugsense.org/unsub.htm Prepared by Richard Lake http://www.mapinc.org/rlake/ Focus Alert Specialist

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