No more Tulias and more news from Texas

I've been so focused on DC beltway politics that I'm remiss on visiting my daily reads these days. I've missed a lot, and so have you if you're not visiting Grits for Breakfast daily. Scott reports on new federal legislation and policies that arise out of the tragedy that was Tulia.

First off, even John Walters is out there stumping for the abolition of federal drug task force funding such as the reprehensible Tulia task force that was responsible for the wrongful conviction of scores of poor black people in a tiny Texas town. Going Walters one better, Houston Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee filed federal legislation requiring states that are currently receiving federal law enforcement grants to "have laws on the books requiring corroborating evidence for undercover testimony in drug stings."

Scott also reports on a bill in Texas on consent searches that would require police to obtain written or video consent before conducting a search. As he points out, this is a good bill. He says, "SB 1195 is your opportunity to keep judges from overturning the hard work of police officers on technicalities, at no cost but informing citizens of their rights. It's really a win-win all the way around." More background on the bill is posted here, here and here.

It's a great bill indeed and one that all states should embrace. Who would have thought the Texas legislature would have behaved so sensibly? Scott must be having a good effect on them.