Edna: The Latest Tulia
By Phillip Martin
An incredibly well written story by the Austin Chronicle titled "Crackpot Crackdown" discusses the latest attempt by East Texas law enforcement officials at abusive, racially discriminatory prosecution:
In what has become an all-too-typical tale of rogue criminal justice in rural Texas – epitomized by the infamous 1999 Tulia drug sting – it appears that the Edna "crackdown" had much less to do with eradicating drugs than it did with institutionalized, small-town racism. Under the guise of removing drugs (specifically, crack cocaine) from the streets, local lawmen may have themselves broken state law, primarily by relying on a local crack addict as their sole informant to send 28 of the 29 defendants to prison for sentences from one to 20 years. Only two of the defendants, including Patterson, dared to challenge the charges in court; the rest accepted plea bargains offered by longtime Jackson Co. District Attorney Bobby Bell. They did so, it seems certain, in large part out of fear of challenging Bell's authority and thus receiving even heavier sentences.
This is a remarkable story. I know few will read it on Friday, so I'll leave this link up here now, and write more on it next week.
Posted by Phillip Martin at October 21, 2005 02:49 PM
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