The Alliance's strategy for reforming inadequately supervised regional anti-drug task forces took a stride forward Wednesday with the introduction of a bill by Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee called the “No More Tulias: Drug Law Enforcement Evidentiary Standards Improvement Act of 2005.” The Alliance stood with the Congresswoman at a press conference to announce the bill.

As anti-drug task forces have grown in power, they have become a threat to liberty and public safety. In Tulia, Texas the lies of a single task force officer sent dozens of innocent African Americans to prison for years. In Flint, Michigan task force officers raided a dance nightclub, strip-searched dozens of innocent music fans, and arrested everyone for the offenses of a few.  On college campuses across the country, anti-drug task forces continue to destroy the futures of college students over minor drug offenses.

The Alliance is fighting these task forces two ways - by working to cut their federal funding, and by seeking to reform the way they operate to reduce the harm they cause. Congresswoman Jackson Lee's bill would accomplish the latter, prohibiting states from spending federal money on anti-drug task forces unless they have laws to prevent people from being convicted of drug offenses solely on the uncorroborated word of an undercover officer or informant.

The legislation is based on a law enacted by the Texas legislature in the wake of the Tulia, Texas scandal. That law was passed thanks to a coalition of Christian conservatives and civil rights activists. During the floor debate, conservative Texas legislators quoted the Bible and pointed out that Mosaic law requires corroboration, while civil rights leaders emphasized the need to reduce racial disparities and protect innocent people from going to prison. The Alliance is planning outreach in order to assemble a similar coalition at the national level to pass Rep. Jackson Lee’s bill.