Do you remember when you were a little kid and your mama told you “Don’t scratch it, it’ll get infected”.??? That was the image and thought that came to mind when I read up on this case. Well, somebody was doing a lot of scratching in Jena Louisiana…and it became extremely infectious.
The Jena Six refers to a group of six black teenagers who have been charged with the beating of a white teenager at Jena High School on December 4, 2006. But that’s not where the story begins. It all started over sitting under a large tree in the center of the school courtyard in August, 2006.
The school had about 10% blacks and over 85% white students. The school administrators and teachers said all of the students sat under the tree at different times, but the students referred to it as the “white tree” or “prep tree”. The blacks, reportedly, sat in the bleachers near an auditorium, while white students sat under the tree.
On August 31, 2006 there was a school assembly. A young black freshman asked the principal if he could sit under the “white tree”. I guess it was said jokingly. Of course the principal told the students they could sit any where they wanted. The next morning, nooses were discovered hanging from the tree. A teacher reported seeing both black and white students pulling on them, jump-swinging from them, and putting their heads through the nooses. The nooses were removed by 7:15 a.m.
The school found out who the three white culprits were, and the principal wanted to expel them. That recommendation was denied by the board of education, including Superintendent Roy Breithaupt. It was reported that the student’s punishment was reduced to three days of in-school suspension. It was that report (IMO) that started the contagious infection that is still going on. But wait, here’s what the boys punishment really was…the superintendent reported that the three students were isolated at an alternative school for nine days, spent two weeks on in-school suspension, served Saturday detentions, had to attend Discipline Court, were referred to Families in Need of Services, and had to have an evaluation before they were able to return to school as part of the district’s Crises Management Policy Procedures. The report of the three day suspension stoked Jena’s black residents to feel racial tensions over the situation.
It was obvious that the infection was growing as the school decided to cut down the poor tree, hoping it would deflate the ongoing disputes. The school hoped that as the new school year was going to start, the students coming back, looking at the tree and being reminded of the event. Others felt that cutting down the tree wouldn’t be an effective way to address the problem of racism in Jena.
The police were called several times, after the noose incident, to respond to the school for a rash of interracial fights. On Sept. 6, 2006, the principal took action by calling an impromptu assembly. The students segregated themselves into white and black sections. The Jena Police Department asked, La Salle Parish District Attorney, J. Reed Walters to attend and speak to the students. It was alleged that Walters was unhappy with the request as he was busy preparing a case. He did go, but upon arrival felt that the students were not paying proper attention to him. He warned the students that he could be their friend or their worst enemy, and stated that “with one stroke of my pen, I can make your life disappear.”Although it was denied, the black students stated that Walters and school board member Billy Fowler were looking at them when he made the comments.
Black students and their parents attempted to address the school board on Sept. 6, 2006, but the school board refused them because the board was of the opinion that the noose incident had been adequately resolved.
Racial tensions were rising. On Nov. 30, 2006, a fire was set in a wing of the main building of the high school. That portion of the building was gutted and had to be demolished. Arson was determined to be the cause but the arsonists were never caught.
The following day was Friday, Dec. 1, 2006. There was a private party attended mostly by whites but with some blacks. Robert Bailey Jr. and 4 other black kids attempted to enter the party at about 11:00 p.m. A woman told them they had to have an invitation to enter the party. As the students persisted, saying their friends were there, a white man (not a student) jumped in front of the woman and a fight broke out. The fight ended and the woman kicked the white man and 5 black students out. Once outside, the black students were involved in another fight with a group of white men, who were not students. A white guy was charged with simple battery. Bailey later stated that one of the white men broke a beer bottle over his head.
On Dec. 2, 2006, Bailey was involved in another incident at a local convenience store. Although the report from those involved were conflicting, they all indicated an argument occurred. The white student claimed that Bailey and his friends shouted and ran after him, so he ran to get his gun, and that the students wrestled it way from him. The black students said that as they left the convenience store, they were confronted by the white student with a shotgun. They said they wrestled the gun away from him and fled the scene. The report was formed based on testimony taken from eyewitnesses. The police charged Bailey and two others with three counts: theft of a firearm, second-degree robbery, and disturbing the peace. The white student who produced the weapon was not charged.
Two days later, Dec. 4, 2006, 17-year-old Justin Barker, a white Jena High School student, was assaulted at school. It was stated that Barker had mocked Robert Bailey, Jr., who had been beaten up by the white man the previous Friday. Barker denied the statement. He had been struck on the back of the head and knocked down by a black student. According to witnesses, a group of black students then repeatedly kicked him. Schools superintendent Ray Bleithaupt stated that the attack was no ordinary schoolyard fight. “It was a premeditated ambush and attack by six students against one. The victim attacked was beaten and kicked into a state of bloody unconsciousness.”Barker was left unconscious after the attack. He was treated and released after two hours of treatment and observation for a concussion and an eye that had swollen shut. He also had injuries to his face, ears, and hand.
He was able to attend his school’s Ring ceremony that evening. He later testified, “I waited 11 years to go to it. I wasn’t going to let that get in my way.” He ended up leaving early due to pain. He testified, later, that his face was badly swollen after the attack, and that he suffered a loss of vision in one eye for three weeks. He also stated that he suffered recurring headaches and forgetfulness since the attack. He had had a previous history of migraines.
The six students involved in the beating were arrested. They were eventually dubbed the “Jena Six”. Five of them (Robert Bailey, Jr.,17, Mychal Bell, 16, Carwin Jones, 18, Bryant Purvis, 17 and Theo Shaw, 17) were charged with attempted second-degree murder. Jesse Ray Beard was charged as a juvenile because he was only 14 at the time.
Mychal Bell was charged as an adult because of Bell’s criminal record and because he believed Bell initiated the attack. However, Coach Benjy Lewis, the only adult witness to the incident, didn’t place Bell in the attack and stated that another student, Malcolm Shaw, was the initial attacker. Lewis was never called to testify in Bell’s trial.On May 10, 2007, Justin barker was charged with bringing a firearm into an arms-free zone (the school grounds). A hunting rifle was found in his truck. The next day, superintendent Breithaupt recommended that Barker be expelled for his infraction.
The trial started on June 26, 2007. Walters agreed to reduce the charges for Bell to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated second-degree battery. A charge of aggravated battery requires the use of a “deadly weapon”. Walters therefore argued that the tennis shoes that Bell was wearing and used to kick Barker with, were deadly weapons. This was an argument with which the jury ultimately agreed.
There was a six-member all-white jury, although blacks were included in the jury selection process. Witness accounts conflicted over Bell’s role, if any, in the attack. Bell was urged by his Public defender, Blane Williams, also a black man, to accept a plea bargain. Williams didn’t challenge the composition of the jury pool, and rested the defense case without calling any witnesses. (Personally, I’d like to gather up a $100 collection from our Juror Thirteen members and hire this guy for Phil Spector’s second trial).
The Jury found Bell guilty, and he faced the possibility of up to 22 years in prison. Sentencing was scheduled for Sept., 20, 2007.
Because of generous donations given to the Jena-six. Bell was able to obtain new defense attorneys, Louis Scott and Carol Powell-Lexing. The new defense team requested a new trial on the grounds that Bell should not have been tried as an adult and that the trial should have been held in another parish (county subdivision). A request for reducing Bell’s $90,000 Bond was denied due to his juvenile record. Bell had been put on probation for a battery that occurred the year before, and was subsequently convicted of another battery charge and two charges of criminal damage to property while still on probation.
On Sept.4, 2007 a judge dismissed the conspiracy charge on the grounds that he should have been tried as a juvenile, but let the battery conviction stand. On Sept. 14, 2007, Louisiana’s Third Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Bell’s battery conviction also ruling that he should have been tried as a juvenile. Bell’s attorney, Louis Scott indicated that the ruling dismissed the charges for now, but that the prosecutor could appeal or re-file the charges.
On Sept. 4, 2007 charges against Carwin Jones and Theo Shaw were reduced to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. On Sept. 10, 2007, the same charges were reduced for Robert Bailey The charges were not overturned, like Mychal Bell’s, because they were over seventeen at the time of the incident, making them adults under Louisiana law.
On Sept. 20, 2007, the date that was scheduled for sentencing, a huge rally was held, in Jena, supporting the Jena Six and all African Americans in the United States who have been unfairly treated by the justice system. More than 10,000 demonstrators assembled. Among those in attendance were civil rights activists Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Martin Luther King 111, rappers Mos Def and Salt-n-Pepa, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, and Rapper-actor Ice Cube. Darryl Hunt, an African American who was wrongfully convicted of the rape and murder of a young white newspaper reporter in 1984, was scheduled to be a keynote speaker. The self-avowed white supremacist of the Nationalist Movement, Richard Barret was also in attendance with a group of counter-demonstrators.
On Sept. 21, 2007, a hearing was held to determine whether to set bond for Bell so he could be freed while on appeal. It was denied. A motion by Bell’s attorneys to have Judge J.P. Mauffrey recused was also denied.
On Sept. 26, 2007, Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco announced that the prosecution would not appeal the appellate ruling, but would try Bell as a juvenile.
As of Sept. 27, 2007 an online petition and circulated claiming over 428,560 signatures. The petition calls for a review of the events in Jena by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department.
The Jena Six case has sparked protests by those who believe that the arrests and the subsequent charges were excessive and racially discriminatory, alleging a lack of arrests and serious charges against white youths in Jena in earlier incidents in that town.
This case has had National media coverage including Black talk radio. It’s had widespread News reporting. Word also spread through blogs, chat rooms, websites and YouTube. A two day special dedicated to this story was broadcast on the Dr. Phil show, on Sept. 30, and Oct. 1, 2007.
Representative John Conyers, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, announced that there would be congressional hearings on what he described as “the miscarriages of justice that have occurred in Jena, Louisiana,” with the goal of pressuring the U.S. Department of Justice into taking what Chairman Conyers deems to be appropriate action.
On Sept. 27, 2007, the Congressional Black Caucus called upon the Department of Justice to investigate possible Civil Rights violation in the Jena Six case.
On Sept. 27, 2007 Mychal Bell was released on $45,000 Bail and will be tried as a juvenile.
A black students question about sitting under the “white tree” has now turned into a nationwide social issue. It shows how much racism lies beneath a very sensitive veil. (IMO).
Update
Mychal Bell at the center of the racially charged "Jena 6" case was ordered Thursday to spend 18 months in a juvenile facility, after a judge ruled he had violated his probation for earlier juvenile convictions, a source with knowledge of the court proceedings said.
Mychal Bell, 17, who was freed two weeks ago after his adult criminal conviction for beating a white classmate was overturned, was sent to the Renaissance Home for Youth in Alexandria, Louisiana, the source said.
The decision came at the end of a two-day juvenile court hearing that was closed to the media and public.
Carol Powell-Lexing, one of Bell's attorneys, said the judge's decision would be appealed.
Researched by Cloey 10-02-07
Research from:
Wikipedia
Washington Post
CNN.com
The newsstar.com
Chicago tribune
And various other news sources