JENA 6

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by Rudey

This is from Reed Walters. Some may find it interesting:

THE case of the so-called Jena Six has fired the imaginations of thousands, notably young African-Americans who, according to many of their comments, believe they will be in the vanguard of a new civil rights movement. Whether America needs a new civil rights movement I leave to social activists, politicians and the people who must give life to such a cause.

I am a small-town lawyer and prosecutor. For 16 years, it has been my job as the district attorney to review each criminal case brought to me by the police department or the sheriff, match the facts to any applicable laws and seek justice for those who have been harmed. The work is often rewarding, but not always.

I do not question the sincerity or motivation of the 10,000 or more protesters who descended on Jena last week, after riding hundreds of miles on buses. But long before reaching our town of 3,000 people, they had decided that a miscarriage of justice was taking place here. Their anger at me was summed up by a woman who said, “If you can figure out how to make a schoolyard fight into an attempted murder charge, I’m sure you can figure out how to make stringing nooses into a hate crime.”

That could be a compelling statement to someone trying to motivate listeners on a radio show, but as I am a lawyer obligated to enforce the laws of my state, it does not work for me.

I cannot overemphasize how abhorrent and stupid I find the placing of the nooses on the schoolyard tree in late August 2006. If those who committed that act considered it a prank, their sense of humor is seriously distorted. It was mean-spirited and deserves the condemnation of all decent people.

But it broke no law. I searched the Louisiana criminal code for a crime that I could prosecute. There is none.

Similarly, the United States attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, who is African-American, found no federal law against what was done.

A district attorney cannot take people to trial for acts not covered in the statutes. Imagine the trampling of individual rights that would occur if prosecutors were allowed to pursue every person whose behavior they disapproved of.

The “hate crime” the protesters wish me to prosecute does not exist as a stand-alone offense in Louisiana law. It’s not that our Legislature has turned a blind eye to crimes motivated by race or other personal characteristics, but it has addressed the problem in a way that does not cover what happened in Jena. The hate crime statute is used to enhance the sentences of defendants found guilty of specific crimes, like murder or rape, who chose their victims based on race, religion, sexual orientation or other factors.

Last week, a reporter asked me whether, if I had it to do over, I would do anything differently. I didn’t think of it at the time, but the answer is yes. I would have done a better job of explaining that the offenses of Dec. 4, 2006, did not stem from a “schoolyard fight” as it has been commonly described in the news media and by critics.

Conjure the image of schoolboys fighting: they exchange words, clench fists, throw punches, wrestle in the dirt until classmates or teachers pull them apart. Of course that would not be aggravated second-degree battery, which is what the attackers are now charged with. (Five of the defendants were originally charged with attempted second-degree murder.) But that’s not what happened at Jena High School.

The victim in this crime, who has been all but forgotten amid the focus on the defendants, was a young man named Justin Barker, who was not involved in the nooses incident three months earlier. According to all the credible evidence I am aware of, after lunch, he walked to his next class. As he passed through the gymnasium door to the outside, he was blindsided and knocked unconscious by a vicious blow to the head thrown by Mychal Bell. While lying on the ground unaware of what was happening to him, he was brutally kicked by at least six people.

Imagine you were walking down a city street, and someone leapt from behind a tree and hit you so hard that you fell to the sidewalk unconscious. Would you later describe that as a fight?

Only the intervention of an uninvolved student protected Mr. Barker from severe injury or death. There was serious bodily harm inflicted with a dangerous weapon — the definition of aggravated second-degree battery. Mr. Bell’s conviction on that charge as an adult has been overturned, but I considered adult status appropriate because of his role as the instigator of the attack, the seriousness of the charge and his prior criminal record.

I can understand the emotions generated by the juxtaposition of the noose incident with the attack on Mr. Barker and the outcomes for the perpetrators of each. In the final analysis, though, I am bound to enforce the laws of Louisiana as they exist today, not as they might in someone’s vision of a perfect world.

That is what I have done. And that is what I must continue to do.

Reed Walters is the district attorney of LaSalle Parish.

-Rudey

Ok...Mr. Walters.... so young Mr. Barker was just innocently walking along....

"Dohdedohdedohdedooooh......" and all of a sudden 6 teens from out of nowhere just randomly attacked him for no reason and he was completely innocent...

So ...I guess this version has nothing to do with him catchin an @sswhupping

The following Monday, Dec.4, a white student named Justin Barker was loudly bragging to friends in the school hallway that Robert Bailey had been whipped by a white man on Friday night. When Barker walked into the courtyard, he was attacked by a group of black students. The first punch knocked Barker out and he was kicked several times in the head. But the injuries turned out to be superficial. Barker was examined by doctors and released; he went out to a social function later that evening.

courtesy of http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=12353776

Still does not condone what happened, but let's not act like Barker wasn't an instigator.


Yes one may hve the freedom of speech but there are reprecusions (right or wrong) for exercising that freedom.


**mumbling* if that first punch knocked him out...the boy musta had a glass jaw....heh

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

Ok...Mr. Walters.... so young Mr. Barker was just innocently walking along....

"Dohdedohdedohdedooooh......" and all of a sudden 6 teens from out of nowhere just randomly attacked him for no reason and he was completely innocent...

So ...I guess this version has nothing to do with him catchin an @sswhupping

The following Monday, Dec.4, a white student named Justin Barker was loudly bragging to friends in the school hallway that Robert Bailey had been whipped by a white man on Friday night. When Barker walked into the courtyard, he was attacked by a group of black students. *CLIP*

Still does not condone what happened, but let's not act like Barker wasn't an instigator.

Wait, what? You're totally inconsistent here - did he instigate it, or did his actions somehow cause/deserve the beating?

Holy crap - this doesn't disprove Rudey's point at all, dude.

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

Yes one may hve the freedom of speech but there are reprecusions (right or wrong) for exercising that freedom.

Oh, so he did 'deserve' it? I thought the actions didn't "condone" (sic) this?

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

**mumbling* if that first punch knocked him out...the boy musta had a glass jaw....heh

Yep, definitely the kid's fault for getting dropped by six kids - what a big pussy.

Daemon, honestly, you have to read this post with the 'objectivity' you beg of everyone else - it's pretty unbelievable, and pretty shitty.

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

Wait, what? You're totally inconsistent here - did he instigate it, or did his actions somehow cause/deserve the beating?

Holy crap - this doesn't disprove Rudey's point at all, dude.




Oh, so he did 'deserve' it? I thought the actions didn't "condone" (sic) this?



Yep, definitely the kid's fault for getting dropped by six kids - what a big pussy.

Daemon, honestly, you have to read this post with the 'objectivity' you beg of everyone else - it's pretty unbelievable, and pretty shitty.

NONONO.....wait KSIG


What I am saying....and this isn't disproving Rudey but disproving the DA....

He didn't mention in his report what precipitated the fight ie: Barker's taunting of Bailey which basically was instigating...what happened Friday night was brought up in school that Monday. (When keepin' it real goes wrong....). Bailey instead of ignoring it, decided foolishly to retaliate.

What I am saying in response to the DA's report is to not make it look like Barker was a totally innocent person. Totally innocent would have been one random kid who was just going along and minding his business who all of a sudden gets jumped. According to the account, Barker made himself a part of business that he wasn't involved in....KSig...I have seen enough and have been apart of enough events like these (which thankfully never escalated and got this involved) at school to know....sometimes it's wise to mind your own and not stick your lip in it.

Barker didn't deserve the @sswhupping he got.....heck...what he said he should have kept it to himself....

But...something my parents always taught me, is to be careful your mouth can get you into trouble.

KSIG...question...when you was a kid, have you ever said something inappropiate and got popped in the mouth for it? How did it make you feel? What did you learn from it?

I had it happen enough to me when I was a child to eventually learn to be careful what I say around folks because the consequences could be a whole lot severe that a simple pop in the mouth from a well meaning parent.

Let us agree to this too if possible, with kids being the way they are nowadays, it's lucky he wasn't shot.

Think about it...how many times this year have we seen poor exercises in what to say out of one's mouth has lead to negative press?

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

According to the account, Barker made himself a part of business that he wasn't involved in....KSig...I have seen enough and have been apart of enough events like these (which thankfully never escalated and got this involved) at school to know....sometimes it's wise to mind your own and not stick your lip in it.

Barker didn't deserve the @sswhupping he got.....heck...what he said he should have kept it to himself....

But...something my parents always taught me, is to be careful your mouth can get you into trouble.

KSIG...question...when you was a kid, have you ever said something inappropiate and got popped in the mouth for it? How did it make you feel? What did you learn from it?

This is completely irrelevant and inconsistent with anything else you've said, I hope you realize this.

Also, I did get popped in the face, but never jumped by six dudes - this is why I never called the cops, not why I stopped talking shit. They're apples and oranges.

Originally Posted by DaemonSeid

I had it happen enough to me when I was a child to eventually learn to be careful what I say around folks because the consequences could be a whole lot severe that a simple pop in the mouth from a well meaning parent.

Let us agree to this too if possible, with kids being the way they are nowadays, it's lucky he wasn't shot.

What?

So the kid should have learned from this? He's lucky he wasn't SHOT?

I honestly have no idea where you're going with this now - help me out here, how is this at all relevant to the Mychal Bell issue?

[DaemonSeid]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

This is completely irrelevant and inconsistent with anything else you've said, I hope you realize this.

Also, I did get popped in the face, but never jumped by six dudes - this is why I never called the cops, not why I stopped talking shit. They're apples and oranges.



What?

So the kid should have learned from this? He's lucky he wasn't SHOT?

I honestly have no idea where you're going with this now - help me out here, how is this at all relevant to the Mychal Bell issue?

it's not irrelevant or inconsistent Ksig...this really just shows the difference on where we come from...I have had times when I have been jumped by more than one dude....I am sidebarring a bit so bear with me....

Understand this...it didn't help when I was younger, I was taller and bigger than others around my age...so sometimes when I got into fights I usually had to deal with the sibling / friend of the kid that I was already having the beef with...but you know what...we never called the cops...you sucked it up and go on...

ALSO...we on both sides of the coin (protagonist and antagonists) rarely ever beat someone up enough to send them to the hospital....you got your @ss whupped....done deal. No need to be savages about it.

Ksig...please don't tell me you have never heard of people who got shot simply because they looked at someone funny or got thier foot stepped on or whatever...let me speak for myself because our ages may be way different...these kids of today don't fight fair like some of us did years ago...these idiots are so quick to resolve an issue with a gun without realizing the consequences of THIER actions in a move to retaliate against a slight....this is why I said that Barker and Bell are both lucky...there are too many instances where you hear about people being shot and killed for dumb stuff like this.

Both of these kids were wrong...bottom line

both should have thought before they acted...also bottom line...

both have and are paying for the inabilty to think.

If you are going to fight...fight...fight fair...and then be able to look that person in the eye when you are done and be able to shake hands, resolve your issues and move on.

These are things that happened when I was a child living where I lived....Some of us could be friend's in the morning, fighting by noon and back friends at night.


As much as we want to think that people (kids especially) will sit down and peaceully negotiate....it doesn't always happen...if that was the case...we wouldn't be 'fighting' in some places of the world...but Sig...that is a whole other thread.