435 years for delivery of cocaine? Sure thing, in Texas, if you're black. Inasmuch as I can tell, what has happened in Tulia, Texas, is that a single undercover police officer, with problematic details in his own personal history (including a warrant for theft from a sheriff's department) has singlehandedly brought down Tulia, Texas' drug trade. 46 arrests ... 40 of the accused are black. Those 40 arrests constitute 17% of the estimated black population (232) of Tulia. I would like to offer an excerpt, which I will title, "Justice if You're Black": http://www.drcnet.org/wol/154.html#tulia Realizing that most of my tantrums concerning this War Against Humanity come from sources sympathetic to drug legalization, I thought I might throw in a perspective from a Texas newspaper: or the newspaper's note on the "evidence": And how do you make sure to expedite your inquisition? http://www.auschron.com/issues/dispatch/2000-07-28/pols_feature3.html The Austin Chronicle story goes on to recount how one of the people busted by Deputy Coleman not only bought crack (not the powdered cocaine most of the arrested were charged with) for the Deputy, but smoked it with him in Coleman's truck. I mean, sure he's got George Bush Jr.'s precedent of helping lock people up for that which you won't be, but isn't this just a little out of hand? One officer? No notes? No evidence? Only the testimony of the one officer, who happens to have a shady past? And what do you get for sharing your crack with an officer? 232 people in Tulia with dark skin. One day's worth of raiding left 35 orphans of this Drug War. 17% of Tulia's blacks are under indictment or convicted; 15% are orphaned. Ah ... we might also mention that Deputy Coleman is currently under investigation for perjury--that is, he lied about his past arrest record while establishing his credibility as a witness in Billy Wafer's probation hearing. And this is the thing I don't get about it: it's in Texas. For all the dumb stereotypes about Texas, one thing that truly does puzzle me is the difference between white and non-white. Only a couple of years ago, the Department of Justice decided not to intervine when United States Marines shot a 15 year-old hispanic boy in the back while he was tending sheep. The Marines were able to convince DoJ that they had probable cause to suspect that Esquivel Hernandez was a drug kingpin, and that excuse was good enough. (BTW, any USMC out there who can tell me what the Corps was doing patrolling inside American borders, policing American citizens, covertly observing and murdering 15 year-olds?) What's going on? In Texas? In the USA? In this stupid, stupid Drug War? No matter how you cut this one, I assert that the social price far outweighs the social reward. thanx, Tiassa Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! ------------------ Whether God exists or does not exist, He has come to rank among the most sublime and useless truths.--Denis Diderot [This message has been edited by tiassa (edited October 10, 2000).]
Justice for Tulia - A Closing Chapter? Settlement checks arriving for Tulia defendants This topic is so old I had to update the link to the original news story at DRCNet/StopTheMadness in the original post above. This chapter closes today. Settlement checks for the false arrests and imprisonment are being delivered to the victims of the Tulia outrage. Comment: I admit that when the Tulia outrage occurred, the thought of this day seemed imprudent. Now we know how long it takes. My fellow Americans ... this is your War on Drugs. ____________________ • Blaney, Betsy. "Tulia, Texas, settlement checks ariving." Seattle Post-Intelligencer (Associated Press), July 16, 2004. See http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/apus_story.asp?category=1110&slug=Tulia Drug Busts
