Pubdate: Wed, 18 Jul 2001
Source: Tulia Herald
Copyright: 2001 Tulia Herald
Contact:  (806) 995-3536
Mail: PO Box 87, Tulia, TX 79088-0087
Website: None
Note: This newspaper - with a circulation of 3,000 - does not seem to be 
aware that the entire nation is aware of what happened there, as can be 
seen by clicking this link http://www.mapinc.org/tulia.htm The Friends of 
Justice http://www.drugsense.org/foj report that nobody from the newspaper 
contacted them about the Tulia Freedom Ride and Never Again Rally - 
probably don't know that all the details are on their website, either, to 
include this press release 
http://www.drugsense.org/foj/pressrelease.htm  Perhaps they also have not 
seen the superb video at http://www.soros.org:8080/ramgen/tlc/tulia.rm

CLAIMS OF RACIAL BIAS WILL BE VOICED

The self-styled Friends of Justice will bring two busloads of people from 
Austin to demonstrate against law enforcement in Swisher County.

The buses will arrive from Austin on Sunday and the demonstration will 
begin at 6 p.m., lasting into the early morning hours Monday.

The group has joined with organizations working to legalize drugs, and 
attempting to stop enforcement of drug control laws.  They say the laws are 
discriminatory against blacks.

A civil suit has been filed against Swisher County law enforcement officers 
and others in relation to the July, 1999, arrest on drug charges of 43 
people, of whom 40 were black.  The suit is pending in federal district 
court in Amarillo.  Deadline for parties to be ready for trial is February, 
but a trial date has not been set.

Law enforcement officers could not comment because of the pending suit.

District Attorney Terry McEachern was responsible for the prosecution of 
the cases resulting from the mass arrest in July, 1999.

McEachern, who is not named in the suit, said, "I do not believe these 
arrests were racially motivated in any manner or by any means."