The State bar of Texas has commenced an investigation of Swisher County DA Terry McEachern who was in charge of the bogus Tulia, Texas drug busts. From an Austin Statesman editorial today:

The bar initiated an investigation of Terry McEachern, the Swisher County district attorney who relentlessly pursued felony convictions of dozens of Tulia residents on trumped-up drug charges in 1999 -- despite a lack of evidence. In investigating McEachern, the bar is sending a message that it won't look the other way when prosecutors hide evidence from defense lawyers or permit key witnesses to make false statements under oath. This isn't the only case in which a prosecutor has bent or violated ethics rules to win cases. Nonetheless, this is a rare and significant occurrence in Texas justice, signaling that prosecutors who conduct themselves unethically will answer to the state bar.

Prosecutors who cheat to win convictions rarely face consequences because their wrongs are uncovered years after the misconduct occurred. That's what happened last month, when the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the death sentence of inmate Delma Banks after finding that Bowie County prosecutors had violated Banks' constitutional rights by withholding evidence for nearly two decades and permitting key witnesses to lie about the 1980 slaying of a Texarkana teenager. It is refreshing to know that the state bar is awake and doing its job in holding cheating prosecutors accountable. Such prosecutors undermine public confidence in the judicial system. Now the bar should look into the Banks case.