Tuesday, December 21, 2004

Bizarre McEachern Hagiography in Plainview

Lauri at Tres Chicas notes how strange it seemed that the Plainview (TX) Herald's farewell ode to outgoing Panhandle prosecutor Terry McEachern included no reference to the two incidents which brought him the most fame: his role in the infamous Tulia drug scandals, and his upcoming disciplinary hearing before the state bar stemming from his arrest in New Mexico last year on a DUI charge.

If it seems odd that a New York City blog pays close attention to what's going on in rural Texas, it would be, if the blogger weren't former ACLU of Texas researcher and activist Lauri Apple. Lauri helped me prepare a May 2004 report entitled Flawed Enforcement (pdf), analyzing racial profiling data from drug task force traffic interdiction programs on behalf of ACLU of Texas. She also directed ACLU of Texas' statewide banned books project this year, which is a monumental research task. Now, though we're sorry to see her go, Lauri's off to law school in New York City, the same Yeshiva law school that hosts the Innocence Project, now that I think of it, so it's fitting that I'd mention her when they just had a big Texas victory. Good luck, Lauri!

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