Justice for the Jena "#6" Now ( http://nateperkins.blip.tv )
Free The Jena SixFacing 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 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
The lives of six young black men are being ruined by Jim Crow justice in Jena, Louisiana.

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 »
www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/05/1422246 - 35k - Cached - Similar pages
www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-09-06-jena_N.htm - 45k - Cached - Similar pages
www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/anderson.cooper.360/blog/2007/09/jena-6-case-inflames-racial-tensions.html - 71k - Cached - Similar pages
One question: If justice is blind, does that mean color blind too?

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
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.
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.
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14214971&ft=1&f=11 - Similar pages
www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-jena_wittjun26,1,3186370.story?coll=chi-news-hed - 52k - Cached - Similar pages
friendsofjustice.wordpress.com/jena-6/