TULIA, TEXAS
35 Black frame-up victims pardoned
By Richard Wales
In late August, Texas Gov. Rick Perry was
forced to reverse a racist atrocity when he pardoned the 35
Black people from Tulia who were still in jail or facing
charges. Perry said that he was influenced by questions about
the testimony of under cover agent Tom Coleman. But he was also
feeling the heat of a media, legal and popular campaign to free
these victims.
Some 46 people, 39 of them Black, were originally arrested
in a 1999 drug "sting" operation in Tulia. Some 38 Black
defendants were convicted on trumped-up drug charges on the
strength of Coleman's words.
The FBI recovered no cash, drugs or weapons when its agents
searched the homes. Of the other three convicted, one is on
deferred probation and two others were ineligible for pardons
because of other convictions.
This case is a story to be added to a long list that reveals
the racist nature of the criminal justice system and the
ingrained racism in U.S. society.
A week after the arrests, Tulia's local newspaper, the
Sentinel, ran this headline: "Tulia's Streets Cleared of
Garbage," referring to the Black people who had been framed and
arrested.
Now the entire public is aware that Tom Coleman is a racist
liar the local police were using as an informant. But Coleman
couldn't do it singlehandedly. District attorneys had to
present these cases before judges and juries.
After the first few tried were sentenced to from 12 to 99
years in prison, some defendants pleaded guilty to avoid such
long terms. They still received sentences of up to eight
years.
The 35 are now pardoned, but not just from the governor's
good will. Credit instead Jeff Blackburn, an Amarillo, Texas,
lawyer working with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Blackburn has
spent thousands of hours and thousands of
dollars of his own money in seeking
justice for his clients.
Credit the Pacifica radio network that has spent many hours
publicizing the atrocities over its listener-sponsored radio
stations. Credit the series by Black commentary writer Bob
Herbert that ran over the better part of a year in the New York
Times.
This story has crept into the consciousness of increasing
numbers of people over the last two to three years, bringing
pressure on officials like Gov. Perry. It should never have
taken this long to correct what one racist cop did--a cop who
had been fired from a previous law enforcement position for
misconduct involving theft and abuse.
That 10 percent of the Black population of any town could be
prosecuted, let alone found guilty, is a racist atrocity.
After Perry issued the pardons, defense attorneys filed a
federal civil-rights lawsuit in Amarillo's federal district
court. It names more than 40 defendants, including the drug
task force that supervised the sting and every county belonging
to the task force.
Blackburn, one of the lawyers who filed the suit, said he is
seeking compensation and justice for violation of the
constitutional rights of his clients, Tonya White and Zury
Bossett.
"This lawsuit is going to get done what it needs to get
done," Blackburn said. "In terms of bringing true
accountability, the real wrongdoers in this case have got to
pay for what they did. They've got to pay in a large enough
amount that they won't do it again."
And there are many people who believe that if there were
real justice in Texas, many of these police officials would
face criminal charges for depriving people of their
freedom.
Reprinted from the Sept. 4, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
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