Pubdate: Sun, 26 Oct 2003 Source: Amarillo Globe-News (TX) Copyright: 2003 Amarillo Globe-News Contact: http://amarillonet.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/13 Author: Alton McQueen Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/tulia.htm (Tulia, Texas) Note: The author is a retired engineer and a frequent contributor to Other Opinion page. RULE OF LAW LOST IN PROPAGANDA The law-abiding citizens of Swisher County are the real victims in the aftermath of the Tulia drug sting. They were denied the use of law to protect their community from drug predators. For attempting to do so, their community was vilified in the national propaganda media, the reputations of their local officials were trashed, and both the community and its officials face civil litigation (at least) for years to come. The eight people convicted of drug crimes by juries and the 27 who pleaded guilty to similar crimes were greatly benefited by the propaganda campaign. Our politicians of easy virtue released those in prison and pardoned almost all those convicted either by juries or their own pleas. This was a political operation directly resulting from the propaganda campaign. Both the legal and judicial underpinnings were questionable, to say the least. The propaganda campaign was based on the fact that 39 of the 46 people arrested in the sting were black. This was taken as conclusive evidence that the sting was racially motivated. In the beginning, their guilt was not questioned or their innocence alleged. Later such claims were made by those convicted, their relatives and friends. I suggest that anyone who believes in the innocence of those convicted give some study and thought to the Sting Docket printed by the Amarillo Daily News on March 20, 2001. Only 10 of the convictions were based on single drug purchases and, of the 10, nine pleaded guilty. During the 18-month duration of the sting, Tom Coleman made about 110 drug purchases. As many as seven were made on different dates from single sellers. For each purchase, Coleman was required to deliver the drug to the task force for analysis and certification before it could be used as evidence. Even so, it was endlessly stated in the media that the charges rested exclusively on the "unsupported" word of Tom Coleman. The unprecedented hearing ordered by the appellate court to discredit Coleman was not, in any sense, a democratic operation. The elected officials of Swisher County who knew the most about the matter were barred by the court from participation in the hearing. The people had no voice in the proceedings at all. The Swisher County drug sting was carried out in accordance with the law. Its legal underpinnings have not been attacked by the propaganda campaign or in the courts. Attention has been focused solely on Coleman's credibility. At no point in the hearing to discredit Coleman was a jury involved. The plaintive Oct. 10 Globe-News editorial, "Drawing the line for Tulia justice," wants to limit the consequences of its propaganda campaign to Swisher County and maybe just to Tom Coleman. Unfortunately, when politically motivated propaganda is allowed to overturn the rule of law, as it did in Swisher County, what we get is the rule of men - - mostly lawyers. - --- MAP posted-by: Doc-Hawk