WASHINGTON, May 13, 2003 -- Cong. Charles Rangel has announced that Congress will investigate the discredited prosecution on drug charges of 46 residents of Tulia, a town in Texas, including 10 percent of the area's adult Black population.

The decision to convene a Congressional hearing on the case--one of the most egregious miscarriages of justice in recent memory--followed a joint personal appeal by Congs. Rangel and John Conyers to Cong. James Sensenbrenner, chairman of House Judiciary committee, which has oversight responsibility in criminal justice issues.  Cong. Conyers is the ranking member of the committee.

"I commend Chairman Sensenbrenner for understanding the great sensitivity of this issue to African-Americans and its importance to all Americans," said Cong. Rangel who was instrumental in bringing the issue to the attention of the Congressional Black Caucus.  "What happened in Tulia was not just a violation of the rights of African Americans, it was an attack on everything that America stands for."

The ordeal began in July 23, 1999, when police arrested and indicted 46 residents of the town on drug trafficking charges for the alleged sale of small amounts of cocaine.  The arrests resulted in the convictions and incarceration of most of those arrested, all of them poor people, either after trials or guilty pleas, extracted under the threat of jail sentences, in one case as long as 341 years.

All of the convictions were based on testimony of one Tom Coleman, an undercover agent working under a federally supported regional narcotics task force. Most of the convictions were obtained with no evidence, corroborating testimony, or even wiretaps. Reportedly known as a thief and racist, Coleman claimed to have recorded the names, dates and other pertinent facts of his alleged undercover drug purchases by writing on his leg.

Last month, during a hearing for four of the Tulia defendants, Texas prosecutors conceded that the convictions represented a "travesty of justice" and agreed to move in court to vacate all of them, including those in which the defendants pleaded guilty. In addition, Coleman was indicted by a county grand jury on three counts of aggravated perjury felony charges.

Gaining approval for the Congressional hearing was the most recent action by Cong. Rangel in the case.  In recent months, he has written to Attorney General Ashcroft, the General Accounting Office and the Appropriations committee, which provides funding for the narcotics task forces, demanding investigations. The Congressional probe is expected sometime next fall, following a decision by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals to vacate all of the cases and the release of 13 defendants who remain in prison.  The appeals are being handled by lawyers from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and several Washington law firms who are volunteering their services.

Cong. Rangel said the Congress should look into the oversight role of the Department of Justice which financed the Tulia undercover sting, including the agency's plans to safeguard against such outrages. The Department has indicated it is investigating the case, but has not issued a report.

"We all want to fight drug trafficking and drug abuse in our communities," Cong. Rangel said.  "But the Tulia case highlights what can happen when law enforcement abuses its authority and abdicates its responsibility to be just in applying the law. Two million Americans are already behind bars, most of them for offenses related to drugs.  There are real drug dealers harming communities all over this country. Railroading innocent people into prison is worse than an outrage, it's a crime."