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(Elfe ^Lìortlanò (Observer
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April 23. 2003
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E D 1 T U » -I H -C H I E F , P C » L I S H t »
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Charles H. Washington
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Wynde Dyer
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Michael Leighton
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C » e 4 t i v e D 1 1 i c n i i
Paul Neu/eldt
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David Plech!
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C r im in a l J u s t ic e o n T r ia l
by
H ugh B. P rice
clared the word was no longer “as profane" as it once
was.
Colem an’s own descriptions o f his undercover
methods border on farce. He said he worked alone
and never tape-recorded his supposed drug buys,
instead writing down detailson, o f all things, his leg.
Some o f those Coleman had accused escaped this
travesty o f ju s tic e b ecau se they could p rove,
via a cash ed ch eck in on e case, and em p lo y ee
tim e sh eets an d an e m p lo y e r’s testim o n y in
an o th er, that they w ere in n o cen t o f C o lem a n ’s
claim s. But m ost o f the d efe n d an ts had no such
d efen se a g a in st w hat Bob H erb ert, the “N ew
For several years in the 1990s, a gang o f
A fric an -A m erica n alleg e d drug d ea le rs tra n s­
form ed T ulia. T exas, a sm all tow n o f 5,000 h alf­
w ay b etw een A m arillo and L ubbock, into one
o f A m e ric a 's m ost p ro sec u ted drug traffick in g
capitals.
Most o f these supposed black drug dealers
belonged to families who had lived in T ulia’s small
black com m unity for decades, and they seem ed to
be as bereft o f money and as m odest and sober in
their habits as anyone in a town that is often
described as "dirt poor.”
But this didn ’ t deter one Thomas Coleman, a white
law officer hired by the regional narcotics task force
and the Tulia sh eriff s department to go undercover
and root out drug trafficking.
In 1999 C olem an gave his su p e rio rs so m e­
thing to crow a b o u t-th e arrest o f 46 peo p le on
su b stan tia l d ru g -tra ffick in g ch arg es. M ost o f
those arre ste d w ere A fric an -A m erica n s. They
m ade up nearly a tenth o f T u lia ’s black p o p u ­
lation. T he few w hites arrested w ere frien d s o f
— Hugh B. Price
the blacks.
Trials were soon organized, with Thomas Coleman
the sole witness against the defendants. Convic­
Y ork T im e s” co lu m n ist w ho first w ro te ab o u t
tions quickly followed, and the sentences were harsh:
th e case, d escrib ed as “the nightmarish blend o f
60 years for this defendant, 90 years for that defen­
incompetence and malevolence.”
dant, 434 years for still another defendant. Other
Now, thanks to publicity and the legal aid pro­
defendants, fearful o f being sentenced to decades in
vided the defendants by private attorneys in Texas
prison, pleaded guilty and received shorter but still
and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational
substantial time.
F u n d .aju d icial h earin g is u n d erw ay in T u lia to
Justice had been served, the local prosecutor’s
d eterm in e w h eth e r fo u r black m en co n v icted
office maintains to this day-even though no drugs
on C o lem a n ’s te stim o n y sh o u ld be freed b e­
were ever found. No money that could be even
cau se his te stim o n y w as false.
remotely tied to drug-trafficking was ever found. No
T he h earin g has a lre ad y h eard fo u r law o ffi­
weapons o f the kind routinely used by drug-traffick­
cials w ho had p rev io u sly w orked w ith C olem an
ers were ever found.
say such th in g s as “ I do not b eliev e Tom
All prosecutors had was the word o f Thomas
C olem an is an h o n est in d iv id u a l," and "Y ou
Coleman-a man with a distinctly checkered legal past
ju s t c o u ld n 't d ep en d on w hat he to ld y o u .” The
and a well-knownpenchant for publicly referring to
real q u estio n is w hy the p ro se c u to r’s o ffic e in
any African American as “nigger" because he de­
T ulia, T exas e v e r th o u g h t and still th in k s it
sh o u ld .
This glaring injustice is but further evidence that
America's criminal justice system is seriously flawed.
Racial bias among police officers, prosecutors,
juries and judges; toleration o f poorly-prepared de­
fense attorneys for indigent defendants; state legis­
latures’ cynical decisions to build prisons in rural
white communities in order to provide jobs and
infusions o f state funds to ease those areas’ eco­
nomic depressions, not fight crime, are just a few o f
the problems that deserve attention.
First and foremost, o f course, there is the wrong
o f the death penalty, in which the accumulating
\ We should remember that as the
declarations resound about America fighting
for freedom and democracy in foreign lands,
the fight for freedom and democracy in this
land, too, is still being waged.
instances o f questionable convictions and convic­
tions proved to have been wrong-that is, o f men who
were innocent o f the crime for which they were
charged and convicted-cry out for a national mora­
torium on the death penalty.
T h ese issu es are m ore than m a tte rs o f legal
p rec ed en t and p ro cess. T hey go to the h eart o f
w hat A m erican s d e c la re freedom and d em o c­
racy in v o lv es and p ro v id es for in d iv id u al hu­
m an b eings.
We should remember that as the declarations
resound about America fighting for freedom and
democracy in foreign lands, the fight for freedom and
democracy in this land, too, is still being waged in
places likeTulia, Texas.
HughB. Price is president o f the National Urban
League, a leading civil rights organization.
Vanport
name
Welcome
Bridge will honor
town with African
American history
Vanport Bridge was the overwhelming choice
by people voting to rename Interstate M AX’s
Long Bridge in a contest held by TriMet. The
bridge will bededicated as Vanport Bridge in a
ceremony on May 30th, the 55th anniversary o f
a flood that washed away the city o f Vanport.
“W e’ve received overwhelming support for
Vanport,” said Fred Hansen, TriMet general man­
ager. “The name invokes the area’s past, while the
bridge symbolizes its future.”
The 4,000-foot bridge spar - from Kenton to
Portland International Raceway.
Vanport was located in the area between 1942
and 1948. It was Oregon’ssecond largest city and
the country’s largest housing project. Men and
women, including thousands o f African Ameri­
cans from over 40 states, were drawn to the city
by wartime jobs at the Kaiser Shipyards.
At least 15 people lost their lives and 18,000
residents became homeless after a dike burst and
waterswept through the city. At the bridge dedi­
cation ceremony, a plaque commemorating the
city and those who lived there will be unveiled.
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