....Blackburn said his motivation came from his experience in Alabama, where he was inspired by the civil rights movement. Civil rights activists encouraged him to become a lawyer and work in his hometown, which is Amarillo. He's been practicing there since 1983. His wife's death last year has meant that the cases have given him a new focus.
"This is the most life-affirming thing I could have done," he said. "It has been a huge gift. How many times does a lawyer, especially a criminal defense lawyer, get a chance to do a big thing that has a such a clear line drawn? In its own way, it's helped to bring back some beauty in my life."
As for the discredited undercover cop, Tom Coleman,
The informant, Tom Coleman, worked for the federally funded Panhandle Regional Narcotics Task Force. He spent 18 months in Tulia. He was ordered suspended from law enforcement by the state because his previous employers in Cochran County charged him with misconduct involving theft and abuse. But he continued to work in Tulia. Coleman's accusations were based entirely on his own testimony, with no drugs, money or other corroboration.
The Washington Post had an excellent article on the case back in January, 2001, available here:
the 18-month drug sting ...is the focus of a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and an FBI investigation ordered by the Justice Department's civil rights division...The ACLU lawsuit, filed in September, alleges that many of the cases were built on "false testimony and fabricated evidence." In a formal complaint to the Justice Department last fall, which prompted the ongoing FBI probe, the ACLU called the undercover operation "an ethnic cleansing of young male blacks from Tulia." (emphasis supplied).
....Of the 43 people arrested, 40 are black -- about 17 percent of Tulia's small black population....Only five of the 43 people indicted had prior drug convictions, according to court records. Most were charged with multiple counts of selling one to four grams of cocaine to the undercover deputy, who alleged in many cases that the deals occurred near schools or public parks, increasing the potential penalty. The ACLU said there were no surveillance photos, independent witnesses or other evidence in the cases -- just the testimony of the white deputy, who worked unsupervised on the streets.
Eight men were convicted at trials in Tulia last year by all-white or mostly white juries, and given penitentiary terms of 12, 20, 20, 25, 40, 45, 60 and 99 years.... Of those who made plea deals to avoid similarly long prison stretches, 14 were locked up. The stiffest sentence was eight years.
For all our Tulia coverage in one place, go here.
Update: The Houston Chronicle has this account of Blackburn's struggle to free the defendants--and puts the costs he has expended from his own pocket at $70,000.
