Read This Book!

I just finished reading Tulia: Race, Cocaine, and Corruption in a Small Texas Town, Nate Blakeslee's fantastic account of the railroading of a large segment of the black community in Tulia, Texas on trumped-up drug charges. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the criminal justice system, the war on drugs, police misconduct, prosecutorial negligence, race relations, and crusading journalists and criminal defense and civil rights lawyers. Even those who have followed the Tulia case closely, as I did, will find it fascinating. It is utterly engrossing, and a shocking lesson about how much damage one corrupt police officer can do, when abetted by negligent prosecutors and jurors. But, it is also a great story about how injustice can be fought by private citizens, lawyers, and journalists who won't give up.

An injustice anywhere truly is a threat to justice everywhere.