Deliberate Indifference: A Story of Racial Injustice and Murder [Paperback]

Howard Swindle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1994

On Christmas Day, 1987, a black man named Loyal Garner, Jr., drove down the wrong road in East Texas and was pulled over by a white police chief. He was taken to jail, beaten unconscious, and hospitalized - after officers came up with a cover story. Although witnesses swore that he was murdered, the policemen were summarily acquitted by a hometown jury. Only after prosecutors in another county wrested control of the case was justice served. In Deliberate Indifference an award-winning investigative journalist tells a true story that resembles a cross between the plot of Mississippi Burning and a frontline report from Daryl Gates's L.A. With a meticulous attention to detail, Howard Swindle extends his inquiry beyond Garner's murder to probe the poisoned heart of American racial injustice. Deliberate Indifference is a profoundly disturbing investigation of sanctioned murder and a miscarriage of justice that brings home hard truths about America's stubborn legacy of racism.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

On Christmas Day, 1987, a law-abiding black man with a wife and six children went on what should have been a brief errand. He was stopped by a white police chief in a small Texas town near the Louisiana border, taken to jail, and beaten to death with a lead-filled blackjack. Award-winning journalist Howard Swindle, himself a Texan, draws on his personal knowledge to tell a spellbinding tale about the local law-enforcement and criminal-justice systems, both before and during this landmark case. "As if the 70-foot-tall pines were an impenetrable social barrier," Swindle writes, "Deep East Texas lies stagnant in a civil rights time warp, more forties and fifties than eighties and nineties." The New York Times praised "the author's compelling storytelling [that] enriches every page of this nonfiction thriller."

Also recommended: Swindle's Edgar-Award-nominated Trespasses: Portrait of a Serial Rapist.

From Publishers Weekly

On Dec. 25, 1987, Loyal Garner Jr., a law-abiding black man who lived in Louisiana with his wife and six children, drove into Sabine County, Tex., with two friends. All three were arrested, although they were not told the charges. In the Hemphill, Tex., jail Garner was beaten unconscious by three officers; the next morning he was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Tyler, where he died a day later. Hemphill Police Chief Thomas Ladner had a reputation for abusing prisoners, but when he and his two assistants were arrested, the white community closed ranks behind them. The trial of the three officers for violating Garner's civil rights was held in Hemphill, where they were acquitted. The second trial, for murder, however, was held in Tyler, where all three were found guilty and received sentences of 10 to 28 years. The appeal of Ladner, who had drawn the longest sentence, was denied by the U.S. Supreme Court; appeals by the other two are pending. Swindle ( Once a Hero ), an editor at the Dallas Morning News , has written a devastating report about a segment of society he views as inbred, ignorant, racist, self-deluding and hypocritical.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (March 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140233709
• ISBN-13: 978-0140233704
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,645,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It is what it is., October 4, 2009

By 

Sad Native - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Deliberate Indifference: A Story of Racial Injustice and Murder (Paperback)

Howard Swindel has ripped away the curtain of racial hatred, suspicion, and fear that has gripped Sabine County, Texas since the 1800's. Some in Sabine County still proudly display an old picture post card showing several lynched black human beings.

The rock that Swindel turned over some 20 years ago continues to conceal the same degraded attitudes, ignorance, and sickness that existed then and 100 years ago. The Confederate battle flag continues to wave in front of broken down single-wides in many parts of Sabine County.

Anyone contemplating a move to Sabine County should read this work by Mr. Swindel before making a decision.