Tulia

Starred review from August 8, 2005
Those familiar with the travesty of justice that led to multiple bogus drug arrests in the small Texas town of Tulia only from newspaper accounts will be outraged anew at this eye-opening narrative that bears comparison to such courtroom and litigation classics as A Civil Action
. This devastating indictment of the toll taken by the war on drugs, viewed through the prism of one small community, is a masterpiece of true crime writing. Award-winning reporter Blakeslee broke the story for the Texas Observer
in 2000 and has produced a definitive account, deftly weaving the history of the growth and decline of Tulia with the stories of those caught up in the racist frame by narcotics officer Tom Coleman. The defendants, their families and their attorneys come across as three-dimensional individuals, consistently engaging the reader despite the wealth of details and the intricacies of the appellate process. Vanita Gupta, the young defense lawyer fresh from law school who made the NAACP Legal Defense Fund take notice with her dedication, is especially memorable. As with Errol Morris's film exposing corrupt Texas law-enforcement, The Thin Blue Line,
this haunting work will leave many wondering how many other Tulias there are out there.

October 1, 2005
Blakeslee, former editor of the" Texas Observer", provides a damning look at how America's "War on Drugs" is failing by detailing events in tiny Tulia, TX. In 1999, 39 Tulia residents -mostly African American -were busted for distributing powdered cocaine. Everything about the drug bust and subsequent trials seemed stacked against the defendants. The Tulia task force, funded by a federal grant supposed to be used to combat drug dealing in rural and suburban areas, was staffed by undercover narcotics officer Tom Coleman, who had a very shaky record in law enforcement, with ex-wives, outstanding debts, and a theft charge hanging over his head. Sadly, the prosecutor, sheriff, and everyone involved aggressively pushed though convictions -and extremely long sentences -for most of those ensnared in the Tulia arrests. Finally, in 2003, all the convictions were overturned, and Coleman was indicted for perjury thanks to the hard work of many who had rallied to the cause, led by a young attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. The story is huge and the players are many -13 attorneys were in the courtroom arguing to overturn the convictions -so at times keeping track of everyone is difficult. Nevertheless, this book covers an important issue -the failure of America's war on drugs and the trampling of civil rights in the process. Recommended for public policy collections. -Karen Sandlin Silverman, Ctr. for Applied Research, Philadelphia

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 26, 2007
Winner of the 2005 J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize for excellence in nonfiction and a finalist for the PEN/Martha Albrand Award, this 2007 audiobook recounts a racially charged undercover narcotics investigation in the small Texas panhandle town of Tulia. The fallout holds far-reaching implications for strategy and tactics in America's war against illegal drugs. Boles gives the proceedings a down-home flavor in his vocal renderings of Tulia locals without descending into a mocking or patronizing caricature of rural life. Boles's unflinching performance of the trial deliberations—especially the heated exchanges between the defense lawyers and rogue police officer Tom Coleman—creates a palpable air of courtroom drama. The sheer magnitude of the characters—including the three dozen defendants, scores of attorneys, law enforcement officials and community leaders—may at times leave listeners somewhat confounded. Yet the essential threads of the narrative weave a compelling account of the epic struggle for justice and fairness in the day-to-day trenches of an imperfect judicial system. Now a Public Affairs paperback (Reviews, Aug. 8, 2005).