Socialist Action /October 2000
Kosovar Writers on the War
By MARY McINTYRE
TULIA, Texas-Across the nation unsuspecting communities
have become microcosms of the Drug War, which seems to have become a veritable
breeding ground-if not proving ground-of corruption, racism, and injustice
while working people foot the bill.
Contrary to what the government would like you
to believe, the "bad guys" in this war are not just the big drug
cartels and the "kingpins" making millions off of innocent children-as
depicted in anti-drug advertisements. Now, the bad guys are your next-door
neighbors and the people you sit beside in church. Sometimes the bad guys
are the cops themselves.
One morning last year, Mario Paz, a 65-year-old
grandfather in Los Angeles was awakened by a SWAT unit. Mario was shot and
killed in his own bed. The police, it turned out, were looking for a drug
dealer who had once lived next door but had moved several years before the
raid.
In Detroit, FBI agents arrested two police officers
on drug trafficking charges as part of an investigation into department
corruption in November 1998. The officers were accused of stealing cocaine
while on duty, putting it in their patrol car for the purpose of reselling
it later to a street gang.
In Cleveland, in February 1998, 44 cops and corrections
officers from northern Ohio, along with eight of their pals accused of pretending
to be officers, were arrested in an FBI sting on charges of conspiring to
distribute cocaine.
Drug laws have become "Big Brother's"
methods of street-sweeping, removing "undesirables," in what many
feel has the tinge of cultural cleansing or passive eugenics.
In August 1998, the Bureau of Justice Statistics,
the statistical agency of the U.S. Justice Department, reported that "the
increasing number of drug offenses accounted for 30 percent of the total
growth among Black inmates...."
"When incarceration rates are estimated separately
for men and women, Black males in their 20s and 30s are found to have very
high rates relative to other groups. Expressed in percentages, 8.3 percent
of Black males age 25 to 29 were in prison in 1996, compared to 2.6 percent
of Hispanic males and about 0.8 percent of white males in the same age group."
In a comparative analysis of drug use and arrests
by race in a 1999 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
it was found that 16.9 percent of drug users in 1998 were Black while 82
percent were white.
In the year 2000, we have over 2 million people
incarcerated in the United States. In the federal prison system, about 60
percent are imprisoned for drug law violations.
In June 2000, Scripps Howard News Service reported
that the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy was secretly
tracking internet users searching for drug terms such as "grow pot"
by using a pop-up ad banner to drop "cookie" programs into individual
users' computers. The White House reportedly claimed that the cookies are
simply tracking its anti-drug media campaign.
Since then, the White House denied knowledge of
the program and ordered its contractor to disable it. "We didn't know
it was there. It won't be shortly," said Donald Maple, senior policy
analyst with the White House Drug Office.
Ethnic cleansing-Tulia style
In April 1998, the War on Drugs oozed its way through
a small African American community in Tulia, Texas, when an undercover narcotics
officer by the name of Tom Coleman began what would become an 18-month-long
drug sting operation.
The first battle was won by the drug-enforcement
authorities in July 1999 when that sting resulted in 132 indictments against
43 individuals for drug offenses. The eventual results are still unknown
pending appeal processes and trial delays.
Forty of the 43 arrested were Black. In Tulia,
a town of about 5000 people located in Swisher County, the African American
community consists of 353 individuals. Thus, roughly one-eighth of the Black
community was arrested.
Children watched as parents were taken from them.
Wives were left husbandless, unwitting widows of the Drug War. They were
left to fend for themselves and their families after being stripped of the
family breadwinners.
Mattie White has three children and several relatives
indicted in connection with the sting. She explained, "It's all around
town; they don't want Blacks living around town. The police have always
targeted my family. It's terrible here. This town is just pitiful."
Mattie now takes care of several orphans of the Drug War's Battle of Tulia.
In a sworn affidavit, White asserts that Swisher
County Sheriff Larry Stewart gave Tom Coleman a list of names prior to the
investigation. "Sheriff Stewart told me that he had a list of names
of Black people in town he wanted investigated."
Stewart denies targeting Blacks. "I will tell
you this: I guess anyone, in their mind, has folks they think could be involved.
I did not hand him a list and say go out and do this. He was told to go
wherever the investigation led, whether it led to my office, the richest
part of town or the poorest."
"He's a gonna getcha"
In a July 29, 1999, article in the Tulia Herald,
Sheriff Stewart had a message for criminals in Swisher County, Texas: "We
want them to notice that we are out there. We know who a lot of them are,
and we want them to wonder where we are and if we're watching. Just because
they aren't arrested at the instant they commit a crime doesn't mean we
won't get them. It just means their time hasn't come up yet."
Brrr! You sure wouldn't want to be one of "them"
that the sheriff named on his obscure "list". Many of "them"
however, were not paying much heed to these threats. And for no other reason
than that they were innocent.
At least that was the case for Yul Bryant. In fact,
Yul was actually living in another town at the time of his alleged offense.
Imagine his surprise when he was suddenly arrested on the accusation of
selling drugs to Tom Coleman, a man he had never seen in his life.
In one of Coleman's official reports of the exchange,
he described Bryant as a "tall Black man with bushy type hair."
In another official report, however, Coleman described Bryant as "a
Black man with short-type hair." "I've been bald for the last
six years," says an astonished and forthright Yul Bryant, who stands
slightly over 5'6" tall.
The case against Bryant was later dismissed, and
he was set free, but not until he had spent over seven agonizing months
in jail. He is now starting over with a new job, and you can be assured
it's not in Tulia.
In the same July 29 Tulia Herald article, Sheriff
Stewart "stressed the importance of integrity not only to a police
officer's credibility, but also to his sense of professionalism."
Stewart unabashedly stated, "The officer [Coleman]
went to great lengths to be sure that all suspects were correctly identified.
We're not going to put someone in jail on a maybe. The officer swore under
oath-and I truly believe that he has correctly identified every suspect.
He is a man of integrity and professionalism. He upholds the law and that
includes using every means to properly identify every suspect."
Integrity and professionalism? Prior to working
for Swisher County, Tom Coleman had been employed in Cochran County, Texas,
as a police officer. During his employment with Cochran County, Coleman
was charged with committing an "abuse of official capacity" as
well as theft.
In fact, the same sheriff who believes in Coleman's
integrity received a teletype message from the Cochran County Sheriff's
Department on May 6, 1998, shortly after the 18-month undercover operation
commenced, informing him of the charges against Coleman. Seemingly in response,
Coleman went on vacation during that time.
During his testimony in one of the subsequent trials
of defendants indicted as a result of the sting operation, Coleman stated
that he was unaware of the charges against him in Cochran County until Aug.
14, 1998.
Coleman testified to his ignorance despite the
fact that he had hired an attorney, who on May 30, 1998, had filed a waiver
of arraignment in his case bearing Coleman's own signature. A waiver of
arraignment permits the defendant, in this case Coleman, to waive his appearance
in court and enter a plea of "not guilty."
An individual would be hard pressed to be able
to sign such a document and hire an attorney to defend him against such
charges without the knowledge of there being charges against him.
Former Cochran County Sheriff Ken Burke wrote a
letter to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and
Education, the licensing agency for Texas officers, on June 14, 1996. In
his letter, Coleman's former superior stated, "Mr. Coleman should not
be in law enforcement if he is going to do people the way he did this town."
With the same verve that Cochran County rejected
Coleman, Swisher County embraced him. Tom Coleman was honored as "Outstanding
Lawman of the Year" in 1999 following the drug busts. It appears that
Coleman was perhaps just what they had been looking for.
The taxpayers will pay
In an Amarillo Globe News article posted April
25, 2000, Swisher County Judge Harold Keeter said that the cost of housing
and prosecuting the individuals arrested in the drug bust is expected to
be around $230,000, which is approximately 14 percent of the county's annual
budget of $3.2 million. Judge Keeter went on to say that last October, Swisher
County raised property taxes 5.8 percent to help pay for those costs.
"There's going to be a taxpayer's revolt before
it's all over," said local rancher Culwell. "I think there's a
lot of questions that need to be answered about the integrity of that undercover
cop."
An interesting aspect of the community climate
is that the Tulia Independent School District implemented a random drug-testing
policy in January of 1997. The policy stirred up controversy in the town.
In 1997, Tulia High School senior Hollister Gardner
sued each member of the school board in a federal lawsuit because of its
policy of randomly testing students in extracurricular activities for drug
use. The pending suit claims that the school district violated constitutional
provisions against illegal search and seizure by enacting the policy.
Remarkably, many of the alleged drug offenses that
Coleman found were purported to have been committed in drug-free zones or
school zones, which of course enhanced the severity of the offenses. The
question is how many of these offenses Coleman orchestrated to be committed
within these restricted zones. (Additionally, one might ask about the necessity
of having "drug-free zones" when drugs are illegal everywhere.)
In an Aug. 8, 1999, Amarillo Globe News article,
Tom Coleman (Mr. Integrity), said, "It was an unpleasant surprise because
it meant that the dealers were targeting kids." His surprise echoed
throughout the town, filled with residents who were unaware of the massive
drug problem until after the busts had been made.
In an April 25, 2000, Amarillo Globe News article,
Swisher County District Attorney Terry McEachern said that fighting drugs
would not be deterred by "a few naysayers." "Drugs are out
there, and we're here to stop them."
Here are some of the casualties of the fight: Freddie
Brookin, 22 years old, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Kizzie White,
23, was sentenced to 25 years. Joe Welton Moore, 67, was sentenced to 90
years. Kareem Abdul Jabbar White, 23, was sentenced to 60 years. Jason Jerome
Williams, 20, was sentenced to 45 years.
William Cash Love is 24 years old, a white man
in an interracial child-producing marriage. In January 2000, he was sentenced
to 434 years of imprisonment. "Cash" is pending appeal of his
sentence, but there's no court to hear the appeals of his children as they
sorrowfully await the return of their father.
After observing some of the harsh sentences that
others received, many of those accused elected to sign plea bargain agreements
for as much as 18 years in prison. Each of these individuals was convicted
on the sworn statements of Tom Coleman.
What about the Constitution?
The Constitution forbids "cruel and unusual
punishment," which according to law includes sentences that are "grossly
disproportionate" to the seriousness of the crime being punished.
One man in Michigan, a first-time offender convicted
of merely possessing cocaine, was given life in prison without chance of
parole. When his case reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1990, two of the
five judges claimed the Constitution didn't prohibit disproportionate sentences;
the remaining three judges said that while there is a bar on grossly disproportionate
punishments, the drug crisis was so serious that the sentence was not disproportionate-and
the sentence was upheld.
There is a surreal lack of a relationship between
the huge Tulia sentences and the severity of the crimes charged, which after
all involve small amounts of cocaine-a drug that the governor of Texas,
George W. Bush, has admitted to using before.
"The fact is that this punishment doesn't
even begin to fit the alleged crime," says Jeff Blackburn, a noted
Texas civil rights and criminal defense attorney. "Even if these crimes
were committed, the punishment these people have received is absurdly out
of proportion to what they ought to be."
Blackburn points out that "in general, in
drug cases, criminal defense lawyers and smart observers have seen for many
years now that defendants of color are sentenced far more disproportionately
to other defendants. Their arguments aren't listened to. Their excuses are
not accepted and their stories don't count.
"This is nothing new because this is the story
of the entire criminal justice system in this country. This is why death
row is full of people of color and not white people. This why drug cases
have resulted in the kind of outrageous sentences seen in Tulia."
The Tulia bust took in a record amount of powdered
cocaine, much to the surprise of local residents since crack cocaine is
more prevalent in the economically depressed community. "There is no
market for the expensive stuff," claims one resident.
Much of the powder appears to have been provided
by the Drug Task Force, where Coleman received money and drugs for buying
and selling drugs to and from would-be offenders. Essentially, Coleman was
being paid to deal drugs to people whom he deceptively befriended.
If one were to take the trial transcripts of Mr.
Coleman's testimony in these trials and lay them side by side, highlighting
the conflicting statements made by him under oath when cross-examined by
defense attorneys, one might be able to detect the vile jaundice this police
officer has spread.
Just think, if Tom Coleman could cause such anguish
and despair in a hamlet of 5000 people, what could he or others of his ilk
do in your community? Unfortunately, it could happen. Mr. Coleman no longer
works in Swisher County, but is currently working as a law-enforcement agent
in Ellis County, Texas. Where will he show up next?
Protests in Austin and Amarillo
The Amarillo Chapter of the NAACP is looking into
the drug sting in Tulia and the questions raised as to Coleman's credibility.
Local activists and other groups, including the ACLU, are taking actions
as well.
Jeff Blackburn, who is on the local ACLU board,
states, "Right now we are in the process of assembling a team of lawyers
throughout the state. This story is far from over because the extent of
the corruption has proven to be so vast and the cases so dramatic that we
believe that through concerted legal effort we may be able to 'jimmy open'
some truth around these convictions.
"On the other hand, ultimately it's what people
do outside the courthouse that matters. The more people understand this
kind of injustice, and the more that they are willing to mobilize themselves
through direct action against it, the greater are the chances we can do
that. And we are inspired by the fact that a lot of local activists have
come out in support of the new legal effort to overturn these convictions
and examine what lies underneath them."
On Sept. 29, hundreds of protesters-including 43
who came down from Tulia-rallied in front of the governor's mansion in Austin.
The rally was organized in conjunction with the filing of a federal civil
rights lawsuit on behalf of Yul Bryant, whose attorney is Jeff Blackburn.
On Oct. 3, about 140 attended a town meeting on
the frame-ups, which was held at the Black Cultural Center in Amarillo.
Speakers included Alfonso Vaughn and Iris Lawrence of the NAACP; Randy Credico
and Sara Kunstler of the Kunstler Foundation; and the Rev. Kiker, from Friends
of Justice (a support committee for the Tulia victims and their families).
Jeff Blackburn spoke for the ACLU.
Two buses came from Tulia, including 35 children
whose parents have been victimized. The Rev. Kiker introduced them on stage,
saying, "There are now 43 POWs of the War on Drugs in Tulia, and these
are the 35 POW orphans. This is the collateral damage of the War on Drugs
in Texas."
Socialist Action /October 2000 |