In the small Southern town of Jena, La., six high school students await their sentencing for a school fight after lunch. If only it could be that simple. The six boys are black and the one boy they allegedly beat up is white, and with the backdrop being a small town in Louisiana with a history of blatant racism and Klu Klux Klan activity this is far from simple.
The fight between the seven boys was the summit of long building racial tensions at Jena High School. This started after nooses were hung by white students from a "whites only" tree in September 2006 after black students sat under the tree. Those students were suspended from Jena High for three days. The school's superintendent didn't believe this disgusting display to be anything other than a joke. "Adolescents play pranks," Superintendent Roy Breithaupt said. "I don't think it was a threat against anybody."
Um, hello? How could the presence of a noose, in Louisiana nonetheless, be found non-threatening? Just in case those who agree with Mr. Breithaupt didn't know, a noose was the device that was used in this country to hang and kill over 4,700 people in a matter of about 70 years, most of whom were African American.
Like I said, the noose incident at the school was basically the beginning of the rising racial tensions. Multiple fights occurred prior to the one involving the Jena Six and Justin Barker. One of the prior fights, in November 2006, involved one of the Jena Six, Robert Bailey Jr., 17, and Justin Sloan, a 22-year-old white man. Sloan attacked Bailey with a bottle at a private party, and was convicted of battery with the slap on the wrist punishment of probation.
The thing that drew national attention to the cases of the Jena Six were the initial charges of attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit the same, that were brought against the six boys and the injustice that they are undoubtedly facing.
According to court documents, Barker was knocked unconscious and then kicked by the defendants during the fight. The report from the ambulance said that Barker "denies any pain other than his eye." Barker was discharged from the ER after 2 ½ hours and attended a class ring ceremony at the school later that night. In court, Barker testified that his resulting injuries were a badly swollen face and temporary blindness in his right eye that lasted three weeks. I saw pictures of Barker's face, his eye was badly swollen and court records note that the injury to his right eye did require follow up medical attention, but nothing in the picture and nothing in his medical records point to attempted murder.
Mychal Bell, 17, is the only one of the six boys who's been tried and has remained behind bars since his arrest in December of 2006. He was tried as an adult and convicted of second-degree aggravated battery and conspiracy in June. Just a couple of weeks ago a judge vacated the adult convictions of Bell, saying that since Bell was 16 at the time of the incident, the charges should've been brought to juvenile court. Yet, Bell still remains behind bars with a ridiculous bail of $90,000 that his family cannot afford. The ruling judge said that this is based on Bell's juvenile criminal record. (Just a side note for perspective purposes, OJ Simpson's bail last week was set at $125,000. OJ Simpson!)
I am not saying that Bell or the others should not be convicted for the crime that they committed, but simply that the punishment for the crime be fitting and just. In the always wise words of President Bush, "All of us in America want there to be fairness when it comes to justice." This statement should go without saying, because isn't justice a synonym for fair, especially in a democracy?
Reach the reporter at adprice4@asu.edu
