The Jena 6 and Louisiana Racial Tensions

Quote:

JENA, La. (AP) — The attorney for a teenager whose conviction in a racially charged school yard beating was overturned last week asked the court Monday to release him from jail or move him to a juvenile facility during appeals.

Mychal Bell, 17, has been jailed since January, unable to meet the $90,000 bond. On Friday, state appeals court threw out his conviction of aggravated battery, saying Bell shouldn't have been tried as an adult.

"It's my opinion that he should be out of jail now, but at the very least he should not be in an adult correctional facility," attorney Bob Noel said.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Monday that he was calling for federal intervention to get Bell released, and would talk to the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee to see if assistance was available.

"We need federal intervention on this," Jackson said. "We needed federal intervention to get into school in Little Rock in 1950 and we need federal intervention now."

District Attorney Reed Walters said he plans to appeal the ruling of the state 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal to the Louisiana Supreme Court.

Bell, who was 16 at the time of the beating, is one of six black students at Jena High School charged in an attack on fellow student Justin Barker, and one of five originally charged with attempted second-degree murder.

Those charges brought widespread criticism that blacks were being treated more harshly than whites after racial confrontations and fights at Jena High School.

Jena is a mostly white town where racial animosity flared about a year ago when a black student sat under a tree that was a traditional gathering place for whites. A day later, three nooses were found hanging from the tree. There followed reports of racial fights at the school, culminating in the December attack on Barker.

The reversal of Bell's conviction will not affect four other teenagers also charged as adults, because they were 17 years old at the time of the fight and no longer considered juveniles, attorney George Tucker said.

The Jena 6 (Jena Six) And Louisiana Racial Tensions - Original News: The Post Chronicle
The Associated Press: Another Charge Reduced in 'Jena 6' Case

This Youtube clip provides the best summary of the entire incident that I've seen.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I think the punishment for the black kid is quite excessive. It's really sad that there is still a great amount of racial tension found in the south, and well anywhere pretty much.

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The "prank" was done in poor taste. The students who did it should have been reprimanded. Possibly suspension. The students who retaliated, I believe should have likewise been suspended. Fighting in school is against the rules.

I say "students" because race really has no business being a factor here. Or, at least it shouldn't. Depending on how you swing it, the nooses are either a hate crime supporting Jim Crow laws or a tribute to those that died for them. That is, if you wanted to delve further than a bunch of high school brats doing something they thought was funny.

Considering it's in the south--specifically Louisiana--, I'm not too surprised by the verdict. (That of course doesn't make it right, I'm just saying, racial tensions have not completely alleviated in the South)

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by The_Melomane

The "prank" was done in poor taste. The students who did it should have been reprimanded. Possibly suspension. The students who retaliated, I believe should have likewise been suspended. Fighting in school is against the rules.

Not to be someone that reads the articles posted in the OP or anything, but...

Originally Posted by http://www.postchronicle.com/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi?archive=30&num=101615

After an investigation, the Jena high school principal determined that three white students were responsible and it was recommended that they be expelled. The expulsions would subsequently be overturned by the white superintendent of schools and issued the students a three day suspension, saying that the nooses were simply "a youthful stunt."

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Originally Posted by RacinReaver

Not to be someone that reads the articles posted in the OP or anything, but...

That was posted before the articles were there. Wasn't this originally a thread where the only thing given was something from a rap message board?

Also, I was listening to NPR today and heard about this. So, my previous post was made in ignorance of everything and was only going off of what the original poster of this thread said.

I was speaking idiomatically.