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.