Pubdate: Sun, 07 Sep 2003 Source: Amarillo Globe-News (TX) Copyright: 2003 Amarillo Globe-News Contact: http://amarillonet.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/13 Author: Alton E. McQueen Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/tulia.htm (Tulia, Texas) RELEASE AND PARDONS MAKE SEARCH FOR JUSTICE HARDER The movement to free the Tulia residents convicted of drug offenses in 1999 finally played out, not as the promised judicial drama, but as political farce. What happened to the Court of Criminal Appeals which, according to the Globe-News, was expected to exonerate the 35? As a guess, the court which initiated the unprecedented hearing to discredit the key prosecution witness was unwilling to do even more damage to the rule of law by exonerating the 27 people who pleaded guilty. In any case, don't expect your local guardians of the First Amendment to tell the story. So the friends of the convicted persons had to settle for pardons, which imply forgiveness rather than exoneration. Even so, the legislators who voted to free these people and the governor who signed the pardons didn't seem enthusiastic about it. In his June 15 column, editorial page editor John Kanelis scolded our Panhandle legislators for not jumping on the propaganda bandwagon when the Legislature authorized these prisoners' release. If I had been Sen. Bob Duncan or Rep. Warren Chisum, who both represent Swisher County, I would have interpreted Kanelis' column as a warning to support the propaganda - regardless of how my constituents might feel - or face adverse press coverage in the next election. Much has been made of Tom Coleman's credibility. A great many people in prison were put there by witnesses far less credible than Coleman. Police informers are often criminals who give information on the criminal activities of others in exchange for leniency or immunity regarding their own crimes, or they are criminals who, when caught, testify against their colleagues. Traditionally the credibility of such witnesses is determined by juries. No jury for Tom Coleman but a hearing some might consider a judicial lynching. Of particular interest is Coleman's indictment for perjury. It was clear at first that the indictment was the result of testimony about his difficulties in Cochran County unrelated to the Tulia sting. That important qualification was soon forgotten, and reports on the case in the Globe-News and on national television were followed by, "The undercover agent has been indicted for perjury." That is a sly but persuasive propaganda trick. In the opposite context, the convicted and now-pardoned sting arrestees always have been referred to as defendants or victims. The movement to free these individuals originated outside Texas. Solely on the basis of skin color, it was incorporated into the race propaganda promoted in New York by the moguls who control mass media in the United States. This origin from afar was a central concern of Kanelis in his June 15 column. In his final paragraph, he wrote, "The force for redress of this particular issue should be emanating from the Panhandle, not from some distant place." Releasing black people convicted of selling illegal drugs from prison in the interest of racial justice is nonsense. Law-abiding black people stand to suffer most, but even if that were not so, it would have nothing to do with racial justice. We should consider the possibility that racial justice and harmony are not objectives of our national brain laundry. Alton E. McQueen of Amarillo is a frequent contributor to the Other Opinion page. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh