TULIA CONTROVERSY

A GREAT controversy was generated in Tulia in the summer of 1999 when
43 people in that South Plains city were arrested for selling drugs to
an undercover officer. Charges that racism was involved in the arrests
were leveled because 37 of the 43 defendants were black.

And now, a mere three years later, Texas Attorney General John Cornyn
has announced that his office will conduct an investigation of the
Tulia drug busts.

What took you so long, Mr. Cornyn?

Please don't get us wrong. It is not that we mind another group of
sharp-eyed investigators looking at the facts of the cases and the
circumstances involving the matter. We say "another" because the state
investigators would be in addition to the investigators from the U.S.
Department of Justice, who are already looking into it.

No, we welcome the scrutiny. Fourteen people remain behind bars for
offenses that were charged from the Tulia drug busts. If something
improper was done, let it come to light as soon as possible.

Questions about the timing of the AG's investigation are inevitable.
Consider the circumstances: An inquiry into the facts of a matter of
alleged wrongdoing against blacks is launched about ten weeks before
Election Day by a white politician who is in a tight race for U.S.
Senate with a black man.

But the most important consideration should not be politics but
justice. Were the arrests properly made? Was justice done?

If the defendants belong behind bars, fine. If they do not, they
should be freed.

We welcome any resources, however belatedly they may be offered, that
can help determine whether justice was done in Tulia. Let the
investigation begin.