UNLAWFULLY JAILED BLACK TEXANS DISCUSS INJUSTICE WITH STUDENTS

'Tulia 46' Tell Social-Work Class About Their False Cocaine Charges

The man sitting in the front row of Syl Flores's diversity in the human services class Thursday afternoon was supposed to be serving out a 90-year prison term. 

Joe Moore is one of the "Tulia 46," a group of people, 43 of whom are black, arrested in the small Texas town of Tulia for dealing cocaine.  After serving four years of his sentence, Moore and 35 others were released from prison after receiving a pardon from Gov.  Rick Perry. 

An FBI investigation is underway to determine how a lone police officer with a checkered history in law enforcement could have possibly put so many people in prison without producing any evidence to corroborate the allegations. 

Tom Coleman, the undercover police officer who conducted the sting, received a Texas Lawman of the Year award after making the arrests.  But, the "gypsy" police officer, who made his way through small Texas towns picking up contract law enforcement jobs, may now face charges of perjury. 

"It's a tragic story," Flores said.  "But, unfortunately it's something that's real." Three members of Friends of Justice, an advocacy organization started to offer help to the Tulia 46, accompanied Moore to the class. 

"We formed [Friends of Justice] out of necessity," said Thelma Jackson, president of Friends of Justice and a Tulia resident.  "We could see what was wrong, but nobody seemed to care."

The group gave a short presentation that included speeches and a British Broadcasting Corp.  documentary about the events surrounding the incident.  Students in the class participated in an active discussion during the question-and-answer session that followed the presentation. 

"I thought it was a great class," said Ashley Crawford, Arlington junior.  "What they've experienced really shows how unjust the justice system is."

The story of the Tulia 46 first came to light almost a year after the first arrests were made.  The news made international headlines with specials airing on the BBC and ABC's 20/20. 

Sammie Barrow, also a Tulia resident and a member of Friends of Justice, said that the events in Tulia highlight a much larger systemic problem that plagues blacks throughout Texas.  "It's a system built to run amok," he said.  "When the charge is drugs and the defendant is black, evidence is optional.  That's just the way it is."

Moore, a hog farmer who has lived in Tulia most of his life, was the first of the 46 to be put on trial and one of the first in the group to be released. 

"I've been in Tulia since 1956," he said.  "Back in my day, I always used to help people -- they really railroaded me."

Flores met the Friends of Justice at a conference on the drug war in Houston where he invited the group to come and speak to his class. 

"I hope that there's something [the students] will take away from it," he said.  "This, to me, is better than any lecture I could give."