Pubdate: Thu, 29 Aug 2002 Source: Dallas Morning News (TX) .5f0b6.html Copyright: 2002 The Dallas Morning News Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117 Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/tulia.htm (Tulia, Texas) TULIA JUSTICE: STATE SHOULD PURSUE WEST TEXAS CASE Drug charges were dropped in July against the last defendant in the now infamous 1999 drug bust in Tulia, Texas, that involved nearly 10 percent of the small Panhandle town's 430 black residents. But Texas Attorney General John Cornyn's decision not to let the story end there or languish in a federal investigation is good. Let's just hope, for the sake of justice, that the state actually pursues its investigation of the whole incident more quickly than the federal authorities have. Some of the accused are doing time. The sweeping arrests in Tulia were based on the work of one undercover officer, Tom Coleman, who has had some questionable behavior in his work before and since Tulia and is accused of targeting blacks. It was largely his word, without any corroborating evidence, that led to about a dozen convictions. Some long sentences issued early on scared others into plea bargains. The ill-gotten convictions led the 2001 Texas Legislature to change some laws, but not enough to prevent another Tulia. Swift investigations of possible official misconduct would help. The Clinton administration had initiated a federal investigation into possible criminal civil rights violations. Swisher County District Attorney Terry McEachern said at the time that he found the timing of the investigation odd, coming less than two weeks before the 2000 presidential election. But it's also odd that the investigation has languished under the Bush administration. That slow pace and pressure from various groups led Texas Attorney General John Cornyn to open a state investigation "to determine whether state laws have been broken and what other action needs to be taken by state authorities." His move has drawn support from Gov. Rick Perry. One could be cynical and note Mr. Cornyn's announcement comes two months before he faces Ron Kirk, the black former mayor of Dallas, in an election for the Senate. However, Mr. Cornyn has done the right thing previously on some race-related legal issues that could have cost him politically. Whatever the motivations, with the federal authorities not prioritizing the Tulia case, the state's decision to proceed with its own investigation is good. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh