Louisiana NAACP March Jena Six

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Justice for the Jena "#6" Now ( http://nateperkins.blip.tv )

Free The Jena Six
Facing South was one of the first media outlets to cover the case of the Jena 6 -- black youths in rural Louisiana who are facing up to 22 years in prison (thanks to an all-white jury) after getting in a schoolyard fight with white students.

This week, ColorOfChange gives us an update on the status of the case and their national campaign:

Last Tuesday, over 300 people from across the country descended on Jena: we rallied in front of the courthouse, marched through downtown Jena, and cut through a line of sheriffs to hand-deliver petitions from more than 43,000 ColorOfChange.org members to the District Attorney's office.
The lives of six young black men are being ruined by Jim Crow justice in Jena, Louisiana.

The District Attorney has refused to protect the rights of Jena's Black population and has turned the police and courts into instruments of intimidation and oppression.JENA, La. -- Two civil rights leaders urged Jena residents to demand equal justice, and one called for an investigation of the district attorney who is prosecuting six black teenagers charged with serious crimes in the beating of a white classmate.The Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton both said Sunday they would join thousands of people expected in Jena on Sept. 20 to protest the teens' treatment. That is the day that one of the six, Mychal Bell, is to be sentenced on an aggravated second-degree battery conviction. Bell faces up to 15 years in prison.News results for 'Jena 6' Case

Washington PostAnother Charge Reduced in 'Jena 6' Case - 5 hours ago
Mychal Bell, the only member of the "Jena Six" to be tried so far, ... last week in the cases of Carwin Jones and Theo Shaw when they were arraigned. ...Forbes - 223 related articles »

Democracy Now! | Judge Reduces Charges in Jena 6 Case But Refuses ...

This is an interview by Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! with the Parents of the young boys who had a school fight over the right to sit under the 'white tree' in 2006. They are now being prosecuted one by one for attempted aggravated murder in Jena, Louisiana, USA.

Judge Reduces Charges in Jena 6 Case But Refuses to Overturn Mychal Bell Conviction Listen to Segment || Download Show mp3 ...
www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/05/1422246 - 35k - Cached - Similar pages

La. beating case stirs racial anger - USATODAY.comThe case of the Jena 6 has launched "a modern-day civil rights movement," Brown says. Tired of the attention. Blacks are overrepresented in the criminal ...
www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-09-06-jena_N.htm - 45k - Cached - Similar pages

CNN.com - Anderson Cooper 360° BlogFights of any kind are unfortunate but this DA has taken the Jena 6 case WAY to far. That town needs to get into the 21st century and deal with the fact ...
www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/2007/09/jena-6-case-inflames-racial-tensions.html - 71k - Cached - Similar pages

In a town that's 85 percent white, with a white mayor, sheriff, district attorney and trial judge, the parents of the black students who were arrested say their sons will never get a fair trial here. In conversations, they sometimes sound more exhausted than angry.

One question: If justice is blind, does that mean color blind too?

By Susan Roesgen, CNN Correspondent

Posted By CNN: 5:51 PM ET
  31 Comments

Susan

When I first heard this story, the picture that flahed through my mind was the town I grew up in. The town with the "Negroes" who lived at one side and the whites who occupied the rest. The separation was an imaginary line, for the streets did no stop.

If a "Negro" came into the white side of town for whatever reason you could literally see the fear in his eyes. It was always a he, never a she. For the whites the same rule applied.

My Grandfather lived in La., and worked for the railroad. He never mistreated anyone, never talked down to anyone. If his crew had to eat outside, or drink from an old pump, he did the same.

His boss carried a big, thick stick because he was afraid one or more of hid "Negroes" would kill him. He had reason to be fearful.I wasn't afraid of the "Negroes", but I was definitely afraid of Mr. Day.

If you think this was back in the early part of the century, you would be wrong.

I thought we had come farther. Guess not.

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.

Maggie

Posted By Maggie, GVMO : 6:23 PM ET

Hi Susan,

It is unclear to me what Bell's past criminal record is. Two things stand out to me: that Bell was tried as an adult at age 17 and that in this trial his shoes were sought out as a weapon, because if you can't prove evidence of a weapon, then it would be a mis-trial. THis case was definitely handled the wrong way.

As far as the mayor and the residents of the small Louisiana town goes, their self-censored silence seems to tell a tale of its own.

Posted By Ratna, New York, NY : 6:39 PM ET

In many places in the South justice is color blind now - some places linger though in the "old ways" and the old attitudes. The lawyer for the young man should have asked for a change in venue to give his client a more solid shot at a fair trial.

Without knowing if a past record exists its hard to have an opinion any further. But if he didn't have a record, then without being seen as an attacker, and no other evidence to point to him as an attacker, the term railroaded comes to mind.

Posted By Annie Kate, Birmingham AL : 9:08 PM ET

NPR : Charge Reduced in Jena 6 CaseA Louisiana judge has reduced the possible sentence for Mychal Bell, one of six black teens accused of beating a white classmate in Jena, La.
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14214971&ft=1&f=11 - Similar pages

Charge reduced in 'Jena 6' case -- chicagotribune.comThe district attorney prosecuting a racially charged beating case in the small Louisiana town of Jena abruptly reduced attempted-murder charges Monday ...
www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-jena_wittjun26,1,3186370.story?coll=chi-news-hed - 52k - Cached - Similar pages

Jena 6 « Friends of JusticeThe case hits home because I work closely with the Jena 6 (as my kids face look just like theirs. .... I pray that justice is served in the Jena 6 case. ...
friendsofjustice.wordpress.com/jena-6/

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