Jena 6

[CrimsonTide4]

I just learned about this case this evening.

May 20th Chicago Tribune article
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...ck=1&cset=true

June 26th Chicago Tribune article
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...ck=1&cset=true

Post about it on YBF with information about contributing to Mychal Bell's defense fund
http://ybf.blogspot.com/2007/08/take...a-6.html#links

Just wanting to keep you all informed about a pretty serious issue in our community.

[MeezDiscreet]

I think this deserves soooo much more attention than the use of the "N-Word" and Karrine Steffans...

[Gina1201]

It does. Both Michael Baisden and Tom Joyner were talking about the situation today.

[RedefinedDiva]

I know that members of ours school's BLSA (Black Law Students Association) are planning to roll down there to see what's up. This entire matter is ridiculous! It's situations like this that make me happy that I am becoming an attorney. Bulls**t like this MUST be STOPPED!

[ladygreek]

Originally Posted by CrimsonTide4

[I]
Post about it on YBF with information about contributing to Mychal Bell's defense fund
http://ybf.blogspot.com/2007/08/take...a-6.html#links

Warning: this link loads adware on your computer, if you do not have some kind of spysweeper.

[skeeliteful]

Court overturns conviction in Jena beating

Judges rule teen should not have been tried as adult in racially tinged case


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20779755/?GT1=10357

[christiangirl]

This whole thing makes me sick to my stomach. My best friend's little brother was falsely accused of a crime like this and when he refused to admit to something he didn't do, they upped the charges to felony assault. It's like watching that poor boy go through it all over again. But he won that case and I know these kids will, too. I won't let myself believe anything else.

[James]

Hmm. Seems like pretty excessive charges. But 6 on one is cowardly.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by James

Hmm. Seems like pretty excessive charges. But 6 on one is cowardly.

6 vs. 1 is cowardly. An entire legal system vs. 6 is a d@mn shame.

[mccoyred]

Originally Posted by James

Hmm. Seems like pretty excessive charges. But 6 on one is cowardly.

If you read the history of the case, this is just one in a whole series of incidents, many of which were just as unfair.

[BlessedOne04]

Please read the facts of this case and if you so choose then write letters to the judges and DA and help to set these boys free. Here is an update on the case. Also click on the link Jena 6 in my siggy, and it will lead you to an organization who is in support of the Jena 6.

http://bravenewfilms.org/topics/jena-6

[12dn94dst]

Addresses for the Congress people, Governor, the DA; addresses to send support to Mychal and for the Jena 6 defense fund. Demand these boys are released, counseled and returned to school.

http://www.steveharvey.com/whatsnow/

Originally Posted by James

Hmm. Seems like pretty excessive charges. But 6 on one is cowardly.

Because you, and others, don't know the timeline and are making comments on events that are out of context, here's the context.

from:
http://www.digtriad.com/news/nationa...9266&catid=175

A detailed time line of the events that happened in Jena over the past year follows below.
-August 31, 2006- A black student asks permission to sit under the "white tree." A school administrator replies, "you can sit wherever you want."

-September 1, 2006- Three nooses in school colors are found hanging from the "white tree."

-September 7, 2006- The three students responsible for hanging the nooses were found. The principal recommends them for expulsion.

-September 8, 2006- The superintendent overruled the principal's decision, calling it a harmless prank. The responsible students were instead suspended.

-(no confirmed date available)- The District Attorney and several police officers came out to the school for an impromptu assembly after several reports of "trouble" at the school. The District Attorney told the students that if they didn't stop making a fuss about the "innocent prank… I can be your best friend or your worst enemy. I can take your lives away with a stroke of my pen."

-November 30, 2006- A fire burns down the main academic building of Jena High School. Investigators ruled that it was arson.

-December 1, 2006- A black student, Robert Bailey, attends a "white party," is beaten and has a bottle broken over his head. One person was later charged with simple battery for the beating and received probation.

-December 2, 2006- A fight is reported at the Gotta Go convenience store outside of Jena. Investigators say three students beat a man and took his shotgun. The students, one of whom was Robert Bailey- the victim of the beating at the party the previous night, say the man, who was also at the party, pulled a sawed off shot gun on the students. They wrestled the gun away from him and ran away. (The students were later charged with theft of the firearm, second-degree robbery, and disturbing the peace.)

-December 4, 2006- White student, Justin Barker, was allegedly with the students responsible for hanging the nooses, saying racial slurs and taunting Robert Bailey about being beaten up at the party on December first. Later, he was knocked unconscious (either by the first punch or from hitting the ground), punched, and kicked while he was down by a group of black students. An ambulance was called. Barker was conscious by the time it arrived. He was taken to the hospital, treated and released within three hours for injuries to his ears, face, and eyes. Barker was well enough to attend a school ring ceremony later that night.

-December 5-6, 2006- Six black students are arrested and charged with aggravated second-degree battery. They were:
Robert Bailey Jr, age 17. Bail amount: $138,000.
Theo Shaw, age 17. Bail amount: $130,000.
Carwin Jones, age 18. Bail amount: $100,000.
Bryant Purvis, age 17. Bail amount: $70,000.
Mychal Bell, age 16. Bail amount: $90,000.
An unnamed minor.

-December 7, 2006- The District Attorney announces that the charges against all six have been upgraded to attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder.

-December 15, 2006- It is announced that Mychal Bell, age 16, will be charged as an adult.

-January 3, 2007- Purvis, Jones, and the unnamed juvenile post bail and are released from jail.

-January 6, 2007- Relatives announced that all six students involved in the fight (dubbed the "Jena 6") have been expelled from school.

-May 2, 2007- Robert Bailey Jr. is also released from jail. Mychal Bell and Theo Shaw remain incarcerated.

-May 10, 2007- The victim of the Dec. 4 fight, Justin Barker, is arrested for bringing a gun onto the Jena High School campus. The gun was found in his truck.

-June 25, 2007- Mychal Bell's trial begins. The District Attorney reduced the charges against Bell to second-degree aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery, both of which are still felonies. (In the state of Louisiana, for something to be considered aggravated battery a deadly weapon must be used. The District Attorney said the deadly weapons in this case were the shoes he was wearing.)

-June 26, 2007- None of the 50 people who show up for jury duty are black. The 6 person jury selected is an all-white jury. There are allegations that all of the jury members knew a witness expected to be called during the trial. One jury member was a high school classmate of the District Attorney, another is friends with the mother of the victim, Justin Barker.

-June 27, 2007- The prosecutor called 17 witnesses, who all had varying testimonies. Some said they didn't see Bell hit Baker. Some said they saw Bell kick the victim. The victim, Justin Barker, said he didn't see anything and didn't know if Bell was one of the people who hit him.
-Bell was represented by a court appointed public defender, Blane Williams. The public defender did not call a single witness.

-Bell's parents were not allowed to be in the courtroom during the proceedings because they were listed as potential witnesses by their son's attorney. They were never called to testify.

-June 28, 2007- The jury deliberated for fewer than three hours and found Bell guilty on the charges of second degree battery and conspiracy to commit second degree battery. With this sentence, he could face up to 221/2 years in prison.

-August 2007- Civil rights groups and activists such as the American Civil Liberties Union, Rev. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and Martin Luther King III get involved. They visited Jena, held rallies, and helped Bell get new representation for an appeal before he is supposed to be sentenced.

-August 15, 2007- Bell's attorneys file a motion to void his conviction.

-August 16, 2007- One of Bell's attorneys says the case should be tried in juvenile court instead of adult court.

-August 24, 2007- A judge denies Mychal Bell bond because of four previous incidents, including two previous simple battery charges, he has on his record.

-August 29, 2007- "Free the Jena 6" T-shirts are banned from being worn at Jena High School.

-September 4, 2007- A judge vacated the conspiracy to commit aggravated battery charge against Bell. It will be handled in juvenile court. The second-degree aggravated assault charge remains. Bell will now only face a maximum of 15 year in prison rather than 221/2.

-The charges against Carwin Jones and Theo Shaw were also reduced to second-degree aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit second-degree aggravated battery.

-September 14, 2007- A state appeals court in Louisiana throws out the only remaining conviction against Mychal Bell, saying that he should not have been tried as an adult on the charge of aggravated battery.
Source: The Town Talk- Alexandria, LA

As of today, Mychal is still in jail, even though his conviction has been overturned.

[Little32]

The letter that I just sent to the governor, my second with regards to this matter (the bolded portion is particularly important, as a friend pointed out to me). I urge everyone who hasn't to write a letter, place a phone call, or travel to Jena--I know that buses are leaving from all over the place to go there (a friend in L. A. says they even have one going from there). I also think that letters to the media are important, because this issue is still not receiving the kind of media coverage it deserves, though I have seen more in recent weeks.


My letter:

It is to my extreme shock that the situation in Jena, Louisiana remains unresolved. I am sure that you are aware to the incidents, the resulting charges, and the subsequent trials of the six young men in Jena. I am sure that you are also aware that the sentence of Mychal Bell has recently been overturned. So the question becomes, why is this young man still in jail.

The questions surrounding this situation abound. Why did the school system not take swift and decisive action to nip this problem in the bud before it escalated into the issue before us today? Why does it seem that in taking issue with regards to this matter, black students have been on the receiving end of threats and intimidation, while white students have received only proverbial slaps on the wrist? Is Louisiana the kind of state where empowered racists use Jim Crow era tactics to exercise control over the black population, while those with the power do nothing to stop it?

I hope that your office is taking some action with regard to this matter. I hope that, in addition to making certain that these young men are not punished more than their actions warrant, there will be an investigation into how this miscarriage of justice could have been allowed to continue to this point. I hope that the D.A., the school superintendent, and all others who have been integrally involved in this matter will be investigated and receive censure based on their part in what essentially amounts to discriminatory distribution of punishment. I hope too that your office understands how this one case reflects on the state of Louisiana as a whole and what the message that it sends about the state of race in Jena in 2007.

I look forward to hearing about the ways that your office has and will continue to intervene with regards to this matter.

[Honeykiss1974]

* sending this thread and articles to Oprah*

[1908Revelations]

Is anyone going to Jena? The Omegas at my school are taking a bus, but I can not afford to take off of work which also means I can not afford to go.