News (Media Awareness Project) - US TX: Drug Sting A Political Ploy |
| Title: | US TX: Drug Sting A Political Ploy |
| Published On: | 2002-08-31 |
| Source: | Houston Chronicle (TX) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-08-29 19:33:16 |
DRUG STING PROBE A POLITICAL PLOY
THREE YEARS HAVE PASSED since the Tulia undercover drug sting and finally,
this week, Texas Attorney General John Cornyn yielded to pressure and
announced he was beginning an investigation into possible violations of
state law.
I wish I could muster some optimism. I wish I believed the investigation
would lead to a quick release for the 13 people in prison. But I just don't
expect much to come of it.
Cornyn is running for U.S. Senate, and the Tulia controversy could cost him
votes. This investigation he avoided for so long now has the look of
political ploy, a tactic, a way of keeping the Tulia thing under control
until after November elections.
But that may be difficult. While, geographically, Tulia is no more than an
average little town in the flat Texas Panhandle, politically it has become a
giant boulder high on a mountain. It's teetering. And if it breaks loose it
could trigger a landslide so massive as to bury a campaign trail and even
rattle the White House.
In 1999,Tom Coleman, an undercover cop whose methods and reputation have
drawn much fire, was responsible for the arrests of more than 40 people in
Tulia, most of them black. His uncorroborated testimony resulted in many
convictions and long prison sentences, but also in many lawsuits, protests,
demonstrations, changes in state law and policy, and announcements of
investigations.
No sign of a federal inquiry
You may have read there were 14 people from Tulia still in prison. A lawyer
with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund said one of them recently was released
after serving sufficient hard time for drug charges that, by a great many
indications, were bogus.
Cornyn said he launched his investigation out of concern that the federal
investigation had gotten bogged down.
One U.S. Justice Department official had reported it dead, but then a second
official said the first was wrong and the investigation is alive. However,
people who are working to overturn all convictions from the raid say there
haven't been any signs of an investigation since George W. Bush moved to
Washington.
Bush was governor when the Tulia bust went down, and so if an investigation
showed abuses were committed by an agent of one of the state's drug task
forces it might reflect poorly on the man in charge. President Bush picked
the guy he wanted to head the Justice Department, so if Bush wanted
something done or not done, he'd likely get his way.
Stories about the bust often mention that Cornyn presented Coleman the Texas
Narcotics Control Program Lawman of the Year award for his Tulia work.
Cornyn told me he didn't select Coleman for that award and merely handed it
to him at a banquet.
Cornyn's Senate campaign is tied to Bush's coattails. And it is important to
the president that a Republican wins the seat. Some people speculate that
the real reason the president's closest adviser, Karen Hughes, moved back to
Texas a few months ago was to help this happen.
A Cornyn fund-raiser a couple of weeks ago in Austin featured Laura Bush.
Cornyn complimented her for restoring "honor and dignity" to the role of
first lady. Meanwhile, former first lady Hillary Clinton, in her current
role as Democratic senator from New York, sent a letter to the Justice
Department asking that the Tulia investigation be reopened and swiftly
concluded.
Political pawns in prison
The Tulia 13 are pawns in a political chess game. Pawns in prison. Cornyn's investigation is not likely to do them any more good than the federal investigation has.
Another reason for federal foot-dragging is that drug task force operations
and undercover officers are financed by a great deal of federal money. If a
federal investigation revealed that an officer abused civil rights when
making a bust, it might lead to serious questions about the lack of proper
oversight and about the actions of other drug officers across the country.
It might lead to serious questions about the validity of the entire drug
war, and about all the money flowing into it, and about all the other people
who might have been locked up unjustly because of it.
Los Angeles writer-director-producer Mike Gray (screenwriter of The China
Syndrome) told me a couple of days ago that he is working on a TV movie
about Tulia.
He didn't tell me how his film will end. It can't just go on forever, like
an investigation. A movie must have an ending.
THREE YEARS HAVE PASSED since the Tulia undercover drug sting and finally,
this week, Texas Attorney General John Cornyn yielded to pressure and
announced he was beginning an investigation into possible violations of
state law.
I wish I could muster some optimism. I wish I believed the investigation
would lead to a quick release for the 13 people in prison. But I just don't
expect much to come of it.
Cornyn is running for U.S. Senate, and the Tulia controversy could cost him
votes. This investigation he avoided for so long now has the look of
political ploy, a tactic, a way of keeping the Tulia thing under control
until after November elections.
But that may be difficult. While, geographically, Tulia is no more than an
average little town in the flat Texas Panhandle, politically it has become a
giant boulder high on a mountain. It's teetering. And if it breaks loose it
could trigger a landslide so massive as to bury a campaign trail and even
rattle the White House.
In 1999,Tom Coleman, an undercover cop whose methods and reputation have
drawn much fire, was responsible for the arrests of more than 40 people in
Tulia, most of them black. His uncorroborated testimony resulted in many
convictions and long prison sentences, but also in many lawsuits, protests,
demonstrations, changes in state law and policy, and announcements of
investigations.
No sign of a federal inquiry
You may have read there were 14 people from Tulia still in prison. A lawyer
with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund said one of them recently was released
after serving sufficient hard time for drug charges that, by a great many
indications, were bogus.
Cornyn said he launched his investigation out of concern that the federal
investigation had gotten bogged down.
One U.S. Justice Department official had reported it dead, but then a second
official said the first was wrong and the investigation is alive. However,
people who are working to overturn all convictions from the raid say there
haven't been any signs of an investigation since George W. Bush moved to
Washington.
Bush was governor when the Tulia bust went down, and so if an investigation
showed abuses were committed by an agent of one of the state's drug task
forces it might reflect poorly on the man in charge. President Bush picked
the guy he wanted to head the Justice Department, so if Bush wanted
something done or not done, he'd likely get his way.
Stories about the bust often mention that Cornyn presented Coleman the Texas
Narcotics Control Program Lawman of the Year award for his Tulia work.
Cornyn told me he didn't select Coleman for that award and merely handed it
to him at a banquet.
Cornyn's Senate campaign is tied to Bush's coattails. And it is important to
the president that a Republican wins the seat. Some people speculate that
the real reason the president's closest adviser, Karen Hughes, moved back to
Texas a few months ago was to help this happen.
A Cornyn fund-raiser a couple of weeks ago in Austin featured Laura Bush.
Cornyn complimented her for restoring "honor and dignity" to the role of
first lady. Meanwhile, former first lady Hillary Clinton, in her current
role as Democratic senator from New York, sent a letter to the Justice
Department asking that the Tulia investigation be reopened and swiftly
concluded.
Political pawns in prison
The Tulia 13 are pawns in a political chess game. Pawns in prison. Cornyn's investigation is not likely to do them any more good than the federal investigation has.
Another reason for federal foot-dragging is that drug task force operations
and undercover officers are financed by a great deal of federal money. If a
federal investigation revealed that an officer abused civil rights when
making a bust, it might lead to serious questions about the lack of proper
oversight and about the actions of other drug officers across the country.
It might lead to serious questions about the validity of the entire drug
war, and about all the money flowing into it, and about all the other people
who might have been locked up unjustly because of it.
Los Angeles writer-director-producer Mike Gray (screenwriter of The China
Syndrome) told me a couple of days ago that he is working on a TV movie
about Tulia.
He didn't tell me how his film will end. It can't just go on forever, like
an investigation. A movie must have an ending.
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