Saturday, April 30, 2005

Observer looks at Hearne debacle

A gag order was placed on attorneys on both sides of ACLU's lawsuit against the drug task force in Hearne, but nobody gagged the Texas Observer, which has a good cover story on the suit in their current issue.

The Texas Legislature in 2001 passed legislation
banning uncorroborated confidential informant testimony in undercover drug stings, largely in response to the instance in Hearne, plus similar uncorroborated testimony by sheriff's deputy Tom Coleman in Tulia that also convicted innocents. This session, legislation to get rid of these type of drug task forces passed the House and is scheduled for a Senate hearing in the Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday.

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