Pubdate: Mon, 30 Apr 2001
Source: Associated Press (Wire)
Section: State and Regional
Copyright: 2001 Associated Press
Website: http://amarillonet.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/27

NAACP CONDUCTS RALLY TARGETING DRUG BUST

Amarillo, Texas - A controversial 1999 drug bust in the Texas Panhandle 
town of Tulia highlights problems with the nation's drug policy, members of 
the NAACP were told during a rally Saturday night.

The rally was scheduled to call attention to drug policy concerns following 
the Tulia bust in which 46 people - 40 of whom were black - were arrested.

Opponents of the sting have alleged that the investigation and arrests were 
racially motivated.

Drug policy expert Deborah Peterson Small, director of public policy and 
community outreach for the Lindesmith Center in New York, told about 75 
people that the major problem with the drug war in America stems from a 
focus on law enforcement and incarceration rather than intervention and 
treatment.

"I do believe that, in general, the public is starting to question the 
underlying structure and thought of our drug policy," Small said. "With 
more and more people getting caught up in drugs, not too many people 
haven't seen the effects of drug policy in their own families."

The drug arrests in Tulia serve as a good illustration of what's wrong with 
the drug war, Small said. An inordinately high number of minorities were 
arrested, lengthy sentences were handed out, and convictions were secured 
with little evidence - all commons occurrences in the drug war, she said.

The Justice Department is investigating the Tulia bust, which brought 
national attention and questions about the way the state's drug task forces 
conduct investigations. A civil lawsuit brought by one of the black men 
arrested in the bust also is pending.

Many of the cases against black Tulia residents were based solely on the 
testimony of an undercover officer who was charged with theft and abuse of 
power. About 250 blacks live in the small farming community.

After the first jury trial resulted in a 60-year sentence for one of the 
defendants, 17 people entered guilty pleas.

Another 10 were later found guilty at trials based solely on the testimony 
of undercover officer Tom Coleman, who himself was charged with theft and 
abuse of power during his 18-month long investigation. The charges against 
Coleman were later dropped.

Along with the bust, the Justice Department is investigating the roles 
Coleman, Swisher County District Attorney Terry McEachern and Sheriff Larry 
Stewart. Some in Tulia alleged Stewart provided Coleman with a list of 
suspects to target.

The rally was scheduled to focus on Tulia, but also to show that similar 
problems exist across the state and nation, said Alphonso Vaughn, president 
of the Amarillo chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of 
Colored People.
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