Jena Six
Encyclopedia
White American
White Americans are people of the United States who are considered or consider themselves White. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa...
student at Jena High School
Jena High School
Jena High School is a secondary school located in Jena, Louisiana, United States. The school, serving grades 9 through 12, is a part of the La Salle Parish School Board...
in Jena
Jena, Louisiana
Jena is a town in and the parish seat of La Salle Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,971 at the 2000 census.In September 2006, Jena became the focus of national news stories in the United States for a racial controversy involving its school system and a group of students known...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, on December 4, 2006. Barker was injured in the assault by the members of the Jena Six, and received treatment for his injuries at an emergency room. While the case was pending, it was often cited as an example of racial injustice in the United States, due to a belief that the defendants had initially been charged with too-serious offenses and had been treated unfairly.
A number of events took place in and around Jena in the months preceding the Barker assault which have been linked to an alleged escalation of racial tensions. These events included the hanging of noose
Noose
A noose is a loop at the end of a rope in which the knot slides to make the loop collapsible. Knots used for making nooses include the running bowline, the tarbuck knot, and the slip knot.-Use in hanging:...
s from a tree in the high school courtyard, two violent confrontations between white and black youths, and the destruction by fire of the main building of Jena High School. The incidents were often linked in the extensive news coverage regarding the Jena Six.
Six individuals (Robert Bailey, then aged 17; Mychal Bell, then 16; Carwin Jones, then 18; Bryant Purvis, then 17; Jesse Ray Beard, then 14; and Theo Shaw, then 17) were arrest
Arrest
An arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation and prevention of crime and presenting into the criminal justice system or harm to oneself or others...
ed in the assault on Barker. One, Mychal Bell, was initially convicted as an adult of aggravated battery and conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
to commit aggravated battery. His convictions were overturned on the grounds that he should have been tried as a juvenile
Minor (law)
In law, a minor is a person under a certain age — the age of majority — which legally demarcates childhood from adulthood; the age depends upon jurisdiction and application, but is typically 18...
. Prior to a retrial in juvenile court
Juvenile court
A juvenile court is a tribunal having special authority to try and pass judgments for crimes committed by children or adolescents who have not attained the age of majority...
, he pled guilty to a reduced charge of simple battery
Battery (crime)
Battery is a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact, distinct from assault which is the fear of such contact.In the United States, criminal battery, or simply battery, is the use of force against another, resulting in harmful or offensive contact...
. The other five defendants later pled no contest, and were convicted of the same offense.
The Jena Six case sparked protests by those viewing the arrests and subsequent charges, initially attempted second-degree murder
Attempted murder
Attempted murder is a crime in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.-Today:In English criminal law, attempted murder is the crime of more than merely preparing to commit unlawful killing and at the same time having a specific intention to cause the death of human being under the Queen's Peace...
(though later reduced), as excessive and racially discriminatory. The protesters asserted that white Jena youths involved in other incidents were treated leniently. On September 20, 2007, between 15,000 and 20,000 protesters marched on Jena in what was described as the "largest civil rights demonstration in years". Related protests were held in other US cities on the same day. Subsequent reactions included songs alluding to the Jena Six, a considerable number of editorials and opinion columns, and Congressional hearings.
Noose hanging
Jena High School
Jena High School is a secondary school located in Jena, Louisiana, United States. The school, serving grades 9 through 12, is a part of the La Salle Parish School Board...
, about 10% of students are black and roughly 90% are white, reflecting the population of the town of Jena, which has about 3,000 people. Some early reporting indicated that students of different races seldom sat together, although this has been disputed. According to early reports, black students typically sat on bleachers near the auditorium, while white students sat under a large tree in the center of the school courtyard, referred to as the "white tree" or "prep
Preppy
Preppy, preppie, or prep refers to a modern, widespread United States clique, often considered a subculture...
tree". According to some of the school's teachers and administrators, the tree in question was not a "white tree" and students of all races had sat under it at one time or another.
At a school assembly held on August 31, 2006, a black male freshman asked the principal whether he could sit under the tree. According to Donald Washington, United States Attorney
United States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
for the Western District of Louisiana
United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana
The United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana is a United States federal court with jurisdiction over approximately two thirds of the state of Louisiana, with courts in Alexandria, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe and Shreveport...
, the principal stated that the question was posed in a "jocular fashion". The principal told the students they could "sit wherever they wanted". According to some reports, the freshman and his friends then sat under the tree.
The following morning, noose
Noose
A noose is a loop at the end of a rope in which the knot slides to make the loop collapsible. Knots used for making nooses include the running bowline, the tarbuck knot, and the slip knot.-Use in hanging:...
s were discovered hanging from the tree; reports differ as to whether there were two or three nooses. A black teacher described seeing both white and black students "playing with [the nooses], pulling on them, jump-swinging from them, and putting their heads through them" that same day. Craig Franklin, assistant editor of The Jena Times, stated that the nooses were actually a prank by three students aimed at white members of the school rodeo team, and that the school's investigating committee had concluded that "the three young teens had no knowledge that nooses symbolize the terrible legacy of the lynchings of countless blacks in American history." The names of those who hung the nooses were not publicly disclosed.
Repercussions
The school disciplinary process that followed is unclear. It was reported that the principal learned that three white students were responsible and recommended expulsionExpulsion (academia)
Expulsion or exclusion refers to the permanent removal of a student from a school system or university for violating that institution's rules. Laws and procedures regarding expulsion vary between countries and states.-State sector:...
, that the board of education
Board of education
A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or higher administrative level....
overruled his recommendation, and that school superintendent Roy Breithaupt agreed with the overruling. It was initially reported that the punishment was reduced to three days of in-school suspension. However, the three students were isolated at an alternative school "for about a month", 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 Crisis Management Policy Procedures.
The school superintendent was quoted as saying, "Adolescents play pranks. I don't think it was a threat against anybody." Black residents of Jena have stated that this decision stoked racial tensions leading to subsequent events.
According to US Attorney Donald Washington, the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI) investigators found that the hanging of the nooses "had all the markings of a hate crime
Hate crime
In crime and law, hate crimes occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her perceived membership in a certain social group, usually defined by racial group, religion, sexual orientation, disability, class, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, social status or...
". However, it could not be prosecuted as such because it failed to meet federal standards for the teens to be certified as adults. La Salle Parish
La Salle Parish, Louisiana
La Salle Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of 2000, the population was 14,282. The parish seat is Jena.-Geography:The parish has a total area of , of which is land and is water....
District Attorney J. Reed Walters
J. Reed Walters
John Reed Walters is a politician and an attorney from Louisiana.-Background:He attended Northeast Louisiana University in Monroe and Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He was admitted to the Bar in 1981.-Political career:...
stated that Washington had found no federal statute under which the teens could be prosecuted, just as he himself had found no applicable state statute. Walters opined: "The people that [hung the nooses] should be ashamed of what they unleashed on this town."
Police were called to the school in the days after the noose incident. The principal took action by calling an assembly on September 6, 2006. The Jena Police Department asked Walters to attend and speak at the assembly. Already pressed for time due to a case under preparation, Walters felt that the students were not paying proper attention to his message. Walters warned the students "I can be your best friend or your worst enemy. With the stroke of a pen I can make life miserable for you or ruin your life. So I want you to call me before you do something stupid." Though black students state Walters was looking at them when he made the comments, Walters and school board member Billy Fowler, also present, deny it. Walters said that he was irritated at "two or three girls, white girls, [who] were chit-chatting on their cellphones or playing with their cellphones".
School arson, fight, and confrontation
On November 30, 2006, the main building of the high school was destroyed by arson. Although it would be many months before the perpetrators were known, the news media widely cited the fire as a racially charged event leading up to the assault on Barker. On December 28, 2007, LaSalle Parish Sheriff-elect Scott Franklin announced that an investigation had shown that the fire was set in an effort to destroy grade records in the building and to close the school for a time. Six racially diverse male suspects (three juveniles and three adults) had been arrested, and two more adult males were being sought. Franklin indicated that the fire was not racially motivated, and had no connection to the Jena Six. Two of the arson defendants pled guilty, and were sentenced to ten years in prison, with restitution ordered in the amount of $10 million.
Battery (crime)
Battery is a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact, distinct from assault which is the fear of such contact.In the United States, criminal battery, or simply battery, is the use of force against another, resulting in harmful or offensive contact...
for his role in the fight and was put on probation
Probation
Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
. Bailey later stated that one of the white males broke a beer bottle over his head, but there are no records of Bailey receiving medical treatment.
The following day, another incident occurred at the Gotta Go convenience store, outside Jena in unincorporated LaSalle Parish, between Matt Windham and three black youths including Bailey. Law enforcement reported that the accounts contradicted each other. Windham alleged that Bailey and his friends chased him, that he ran to get his gun, and that the students wrestled it away from him. According to the black students, as they left the convenience store, they were confronted by Windham with a shotgun. They stated they wrestled the gun away from him and fled the scene. Bailey was charged with disturbing the peace
Disturbing the Peace
Disturbing the Peace is the second studio album by Alcatrazz, and is the only one featuring Steve Vai on guitar. One of the singles, God Blessed Video, can be found on the fictional radio station, V-Rock, on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Weeks on Chart: 7, Peak: #133...
, second degree robbery, and theft of a firearm.
Attack on Barker
On December 4, 2006 17-year-old Justin Barker, a white Jena High School student, was battered at school by a group of black students. Superintendent Breithaupt described the battery as 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 released after three hours of treatment and observation at a local emergency room for a concussion and an eye that had swollen shut. The emergency physician's record shows that he also had injuries to his face, ears, and hand. Nevertheless, he attended his school's Ring ceremony
Class ring
A class ring is a ring worn by students and alumni in the United States and Canada to commemorate their graduation, generally for a high school, college, or university.-History:...
that evening. He later testified, "I waited 11 years to go to it. I wasn't going to let that get in my way," though he ended up leaving the dance early due to pain. During the trial, Barker also testified 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 had suffered recurring headaches and forgetfulness since the attack.
US Attorney Washington states he does not believe the noose incident and the beatings were related. Walters likewise indicated that he believes there is no linkage between the noose incident and the beating. "When this case was brought to me and during our investigation and during the trial, there was no such linkage ever suggested. This compact story line has only been suggested after the fact." Although Washington believes that both the noose hangings and the Barker battery were symptoms of racial tension, he has also said that there was no apparent lingering anger after the noose hangings.
Criminal cases
Law enforcement arrested six students, eventually dubbed the "Jena Six", who were accused in the attack. Five of them (Robert Bailey, Jr., then 17; Mychal Bell, then 16; Carwin Jones, then 18; Bryant Purvis, then 17; and Theo Shaw, then 17) were charged with attempted murder. The sixth student, Jesse Ray Beard (also known as Jesse Rae Beard), was charged as a juvenile. Despite his age, Mychal Bell was charged as an adult. This was due to Bell's previous criminal recordCriminal record
A criminal record is a record of a person's criminal history, generally used by potential employers, lenders etc. to assess his or her trustworthiness. The information included in a criminal record varies between countries and even between jurisdictions within a country...
and because Walters believed Bell initiated the attack.
Mychal Bell proceedings
District Judge J. P. Mauffray, Jr. presided over Bell's trial. On the first day of trial, June 26, 2007, Walters reduced the charges to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated second-degree battery. Because aggravated battery requires the use of a "dangerous weapon", Walters argued that the tennis shoes that Bell had worn while allegedly kicking Barker were dangerous weapons. A number of witnesses testified that they saw Bell strike Barker, while other witnesses were unsure Bell was involved. Before the trial began, public defenderPublic defender
The term public defender is primarily used to refer to a criminal defense lawyer appointed to represent people charged with a crime but who cannot afford to hire an attorney in the United States and Brazil. The term is also applied to some ombudsman offices, for example in Jamaica, and is one way...
Blane Williams had urged Bell to accept a plea bargain
Plea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
. At trial he rested the defense case without calling any witnesses or offering any evidence. All six members of Bell's jury were white. The 150-person jury pool included black citizens, who make up 10 percent of the parish's population, but none of the 50 potential jurors who showed up were black. Williams did not challenge the composition of the jury pool.
The jury found Bell guilty, and he faced the possibility of up to 22 years in prison. The judge scheduled sentencing for September 20, 2007. Bell's new defense attorneys, Louis Scott and Carol Powell-Lexing, requested a new trial on the grounds that Bell should not have been tried as an adult. A request to lower Bell's $90,000 bond was denied on August 24, 2007, due to his juvenile record. Bell had been put on probation for a battery that occurred December 25, 2005. While on probation he was convicted of another battery charge and two charges of criminal damage to property. One of the battery charges was reportedly for punching a 17-year-old girl in the face. The media had initially reported that Bell had no prior criminal record. On September 4, 2007, Judge Mauffray vacated
Vacated judgment
A vacated judgment makes a previous legal judgment legally void. A vacated judgment is usually the result of the judgment of an appellate court which overturns, reverses, or sets aside the judgment of a lower court....
the conspiracy conviction on the grounds that Bell should have been tried as a juvenile, but let the battery conviction stand. Bell appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
ed his conviction, principally on the ground that he had been improperly tried as an adult, and on September 14, 2007, Louisiana's Third Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Bell's battery conviction, agreeing that the remaining charge was not among those for which a juvenile may be tried as an adult.
Following the appellate ruling, on September 21, 2007, Judge Mauffray denied the request for Bell to be eligible for bail pending possible further appeal. On September 26, Walters announced that the prosecution would not appeal the appellate ruling, but would try Bell as a juvenile. Bell was then released on $45,000 bond. Bell was subject to electronic monitoring and was under the supervision of a probation officer.
On October 11, 2007, Mauffray found that Bell had violated the terms of his probation
Probation
Probation literally means testing of behaviour or abilities. In a legal sense, an offender on probation is ordered to follow certain conditions set forth by the court, often under the supervision of a probation officer...
for previous convictions. The judge then sentenced Bell to 18 months in a juvenile facility on two counts of simple battery and two counts of criminal destruction of property, and Bell was taken into custody. According to Walters, the matter was unrelated to the assault on Barker, and it was not mentioned during the proceedings. The defense filed a motion to dismiss the Barker charges on the ground that retrying Bell would amount to double jeopardy
Double jeopardy
Double jeopardy is a procedural defense that forbids a defendant from being tried again on the same, or similar charges following a legitimate acquittal or conviction...
. On November 8, 2007, Mauffray denied the motion.
Bell's retrial in the Barker assault was scheduled for December 6. Three days before the trial began, he pled guilty to a reduced charge of battery, and was sentenced to 18 months in a juvenile facility, with credit for time served. He agreed to testify against any of the others at trial. All appeals were dropped as part of the plea agreement
Plea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
.
Remaining defendants
On September 4, 2007, charges against Carwin Jones and Theo Shaw were reduced to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy, as were those of Robert Bailey, Jr. on September 10. Bryant Purvis was arraigned on reduced charges of aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery on November 7, 2007, pleading not guilty. Because Louisiana law considers seventeen-year-olds to be adults for purposes of criminal culpability, the charges for these four were unaffected by the appellate ruling overturning Bell's conviction.Proceedings were on hold for some time pending resolution of various motions that Mauffray be required to recuse himself. On July 31, 2008, Mauffray was removed from the cases by Judge Thomas Yeager for making questionable comments about the defendants. The Louisiana Supreme Court
Louisiana Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Louisiana is the highest court and court of last resort in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The modern Supreme Court, composed of seven justices, meets in the French Quarter of New Orleans....
assigned Judge Yeager to hear the five remaining cases by order signed August 4, 2008 While Walters appealed the recusal order, the appeal was dismissed on March 4, 2009 as moot, or no longer relevant, as Mauffray had left the bench at the end of 2008.
On June 26, 2009, the remaining five defendants entered pleas of no contest to a charge of simple battery. The court found them guilty as charged, and sentenced each to a fine of $500 (waived as regards Shaw due to the time he spent in jail), $500 to be paid as court costs, restitution to be paid to the Barker family, (with whom the defendants were ordered to have no contact) and seven days of unsupervised probation. The defendants' lawyers read a statement apologizing to the Barker family and to the town, and addressing the rumors that the attack had been provoked by Barker using a racial epithet:
To be clear, not one of us heard Justin use any slur or say anything that justified Mychal Bell attacking Justin nor did any of us see Justin do anything that would cause Mychal to react.
Yeager, who presided over the plea and sentencing, also ordered the youths to avoid criminal activity, and not to disavow the statement made on their behalf in court. Also on June 26, it was announced that the civil case by Barker against the Jena Six members had been settled on undisclosed terms, though his case against the school board remains pending.
News coverage
Initially, the Jena Six were largely ignored by the United States national media, though covered locally and within Louisiana. Both The Jena Times and The Town Talk (a regional newspaper published in Alexandria, LouisianaAlexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is a city in and the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes....
) covered the story from its inception. A number of African-American bloggers also covered the story before there was mainstream national press coverage. The first piece from outside the area on the case ran on May 9, 2007, in Left Turn, a small alternative news magazine. The first mainstream US print media outlet to cover the matter was the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
, whose Southwest Bureau Chief, Howard Witt, wrote a piece covering the story on May 20. Witt had received a summary of the situation from Alan Bean
Alan Bean (activist)
Alan Bean a mild mannered white former minister working to uncover injustice and organize black opposition, in the racial controversies surrounding the Tulia 46 drug sting in Tulia, Texas and the Jena Six controversy in Jena, Louisiana.In 1999, Dr...
, a Texas minister who had founded the advocacy group Friends of Justice. That document was also provided to other reporters and bloggers. In it Bean demanded that outside authorities, not those in LaSalle Parish, deal with the case, and that no incarceration occur. Britain's
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
also featured an article on the case on May 20.
A segment on a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
program This World
This World (television programme)
This World is a BBC television documentary strand, shown in the United Kingdom on BBC Two, and occasionally internationally on BBC World. The subject matter is mainly social issues and current affairs stories from around the world....
followed on May 24. On July 3, Bill Quigley wrote a column for the website Truthout.org
Truthout.org
Truthout is a 501 nonprofit, progressive news organization in the United States that operates a web site and distributes a daily newsletter. Registered in September 2001, Truthout publishes original political news articles, opinion pieces, video reports and artwork...
. The case began to receive extensive national media coverage in July 2007 as well, with CNN interviewing Jena residents and parents of those involved. News reports from Jena have evoked the Civil Rights Movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...
, made references to lynching
Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
, or evoked Jim Crow
Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
. Some sources have pointed out inaccurate reporting by the media. The Associated Press published an article noting the various reporting errors that have been made, including whether the tree was a "white tree", the number of nooses, and the discipline meted out on the noose-hanging students. Based on this, MTV posted a retraction for incorrect information that it had reported on the case from other news sources.
Columnists and editorials
Many major editorial pages and columnists have been sympathetic to the supporters of the Jena Six and have used the case to discuss broader trends of racism in the US criminal justice system and to call for a renewed civil rights movement. Most editorials were published around the time of the Jena rally. The New York Post, in a September 23, 2007 editorial, stated "it's impossible to examine the case of the so-called Jena Six without concluding that these black teens have been the victims of a miscarriage of justice, with a clearly racial double standard at work." Byron Williams, writing on the Huffington Post, was one of several to cite the Urban League's 2005 finding that the average black male convicted of aggravated assault serves 48 months in prison, one-third longer than a comparable white man. Their report also stated that a black male who is arrested is three times more likely to go to jail than a white male arrested for the same crime. Citing the same statistics, syndicated columnist Clarence PageClarence Page
Clarence Page is an American journalist, syndicated columnist, and senior member of The Chicago Tribune editorial board.-Early years:...
wrote that "The best legacy for the Jena March 6 would be a new movement, dedicated this time to the reduction and elimination of unequal justice wherever it appears. I don't care who leads it, but it shouldn't be for blacks only." Writing in the New York Times, Professor Orlando Patterson
Orlando Patterson
Orlando Patterson is a Jamaica-born American historical and cultural sociologist known for his work regarding issues of race in the America, as well as the sociology of development, currently holding the John Cowles chair in Sociology at Harvard University. Patterson took his B.Sc in Economics...
of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
used the case to highlight the use of the prison system as a means of "controlling young black men", which is one factor in a broader "crisis in relations between men and women of all classes and, as a result, the catastrophic state of black family life".
Other columnists have argued that inaccuracies in the media coverage unfairly tarnish the town and have led to a national overreaction. Dallas Morning News columnist Heather MacDonald, while condemning the noose hangings as a "despicable provocation", expressed her view that "the media, the (race) advocates and pandering politicians have erupted in an outpouring of seeming joy at the alleged proof that America remains a racist country." In a column in the Kansas City Star, Jason Whitlock
Jason Whitlock
Jason Lee Whitlock is a sportswriter for Foxsports.com, as well as a former columnist at the Kansas City Star, AOL Sports writer, contributor to ESPN, and radio personality for WHB and KCSP sports stations in the Kansas City area.-College and sports:Whitlock was an all-state offensive lineman at...
drew attention to what he called factual inaccuracies in reporting of the story. He focused on the piece circulated by Bean to news outlets, "Bean's story is framed—by his own admission—as an indictment of the criminal justice system and the people in power in Jena and, therefore, the story is unfairly biased." Craig Franklin, assistant editor of The Jena Times, who states that he is the only writer to have covered this story from its inception, wrote in The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor
The Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.The CSM is a newspaper that covers...
"I have never before witnessed such a disgrace in professional journalism. Myths replaced facts ... the truth about Jena will eventually be known."
Public response
The case has elicited allegations that the charges against the Jena Six were disproportionate and racially motivated. Supporters of the Jena Six circulated online petitions, raised money for legal defense, and held a demonstration in Jena on September 20, 2007.Rallies
Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an African-American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to...
, Al Sharpton
Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles "Al" Sharpton, Jr. is an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and television/radio talk show host. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election...
, and Martin Luther King III
Martin Luther King III
Martin Luther King III is an American human rights advocate and community activist. He is the eldest son and oldest living child of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King. His siblings are Dexter Scott King, Rev. Bernice Albertine King, and the late Yolanda Denise...
, rappers Mos Def
Mos Def
Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...
and Salt-n-Pepa
Salt-N-Pepa
Salt-N-Pepa is an American hip hop trio from Queens and Brooklyn, New York, that was formed in 1985. The group, consisting of Cheryl "Salt" Renee James, Sandra "Pepa" Denton, and Deidra "DJ Spinderella" Roper, was one of the first all-female rap crews....
. Rapper-actor Ice Cube
Ice Cube
O'Shea Jackson , better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper and actor. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined the rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music, and also as a writer,...
attended and financially supported the rally. Darryl Hunt
Darryl Hunt
Darryl Hunt is an African American man from Winston-Salem, North Carolina who, in 1984, was wrongfully convicted of the rape and murder of a young white newspaper copy editor, Deborah Sykes, but was later exonerated by DNA evidence...
, an African-American who was wrongfully convicted
Miscarriage of justice
A miscarriage of justice primarily is the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. The term can also apply to errors in the other direction—"errors of impunity", and to civil cases. Most criminal justice systems have some means to overturn, or "quash", a wrongful...
of the rape and murder of a young white newspaper reporter in 1984, was scheduled to be a keynote speaker. The demonstrators were addressed by Darryl Matthews, General President of Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha is the first Inter-Collegiate Black Greek Letter fraternity. It was founded on December 4, 1906 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Its founders are known as the "Seven Jewels". Alpha Phi Alpha developed a model that was used by the many Black Greek Letter Organizations ...
fraternity, who stated "It is sobering to know that in 2007 Martin Luther King's
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
dream of equal treatment, respect, fairness and opportunity is still not realized."
Artistic tributes
Multiple songs have been produced in response to the Jena Six case. John MellencampJohn Mellencamp
John Mellencamp, previously known by the stage names Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American rock singer-songwriter, musician, painter and occasional actor known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock that eschews synthesizers and other artificial sounds...
released a song and video called "Jena", with lyrics such as "Jena, take your nooses down" which gained considerable media attention, and which Mellencamp described as a "condemnation of racism." The video juxtaposes images of Jena, the high school, and the tree with video from the 1960s, including civil rights marchers and police beatings. Video of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and Martin Luther King speaking and an image of a black man in shackles are also included in the video. The song and video led to Jena's mayor, Murphy R. McMillan, issuing a statement rebutting the accusations he believed were expressed and implied in the video. An episode of the Salt-N-Pepa
Salt-N-Pepa
Salt-N-Pepa is an American hip hop trio from Queens and Brooklyn, New York, that was formed in 1985. The group, consisting of Cheryl "Salt" Renee James, Sandra "Pepa" Denton, and Deidra "DJ Spinderella" Roper, was one of the first all-female rap crews....
Show on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
was filmed at the Jena rally. Bomani Armah
Bomani Armah
Bomani Armah , also known as D'mite, G-Mike or Not a Rapper, is a self-identified "poet with a hip-hop style, not a rapper," best known for the 2007 single "Read a Book."-Biography:...
released a song called "Jena 6".
Other reactions
Color of Change
Color of Change is a Web-based grassroots organization that aims to strengthen the political voice of Black America. It was formed after the events of Hurricane Katrina, a powerful storm that devastated much of the north-central Gulf Coast...
, which had previously advocated for victims of Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, called for District Attorney Walters to drop all charges and for Governor Kathleen Blanco
Kathleen Blanco
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco was the 54th Governor of Louisiana, having served from January 2004 until January 2008. She was the first woman to be elected to the office of governor of Louisiana....
to investigate his conduct. Color of Change raised more than $212,000 for the Jena Six legal defense, largely through online donations. While the NAACP provided a link to the fund through its website, initially, the donation link on the NAACP Jena Six support page steered potential donors to the generic NAACP donation page, with no way to designate funds for the Jena Six. Black bloggers objected, and several days later, the link was altered to reach the defense fund. The Southern Poverty Law Center
Southern Poverty Law Center
The Southern Poverty Law Center is an American nonprofit civil rights organization noted for its legal victories against white supremacist groups; legal representation for victims of hate groups; monitoring of alleged hate groups, militias and extremist organizations; and educational programs that...
represented Beard, hired local defense counsel to represent Bailey, and helped coordinate the overall defense strategy.
In the months following the Jena Six rally, controversy arose about accounting and dispersal of the legal defense funds. Questions about the money were first sparked by photos posted on Robert Bailey's former MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
account, which show him with quantities of hundred dollar bills stuffed in his mouth. The controversy grew significantly when radio host Michael Baisden
Michael Baisden
Michael Baisden is an American author, motivational speaker, host of the TV One talk show Baisden After Dark, and host of his own nationally-syndicated radio show.-Career:...
accused Color of Change of being "shady" with their use of the funds. Color of Change responded to the accusations by posting links to canceled checks on their web site. In his November 10 report, Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
correspondent Howard Witt noted that Color of Change was the only national civil rights group to be fully transparent with their use of the funds. Witt also raised broader questions about the funds, which totaled more than half a million dollars, reporting that attorneys for Bell claimed that they have yet to receive any money from him, and that the families had refused to publicly account for the donations.
On September 22, 2007, the FBI opened an investigation of a white supremacist website that listed the addresses of five of the Jena Six and the telephone numbers of some of their families "in case anyone wants to deliver justice". According to an FBI spokeswoman, the website "essentially called for their lynching
Lynching
Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...
". Civil rights advocate Al Sharpton
Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles "Al" Sharpton, Jr. is an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and television/radio talk show host. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election...
has stated that some of the families have continuously received threatening and harassing phone calls.
Later developments
On September 25, 2007, Representative John ConyersJohn Conyers
John Conyers, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1965 . He is a member of the Democratic Party...
, Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, announced that he would hold congressional hearings on what he described as "the miscarriages of justice that have occurred in Jena, Louisiana," with the goal of pressuring the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
into taking action. The hearing took place on October 16, 2007; Washington and Sharpton, among others, testified. Walters was invited to testify but declined. Most Republican members of the committee declined to attend. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee
Sheila Jackson Lee
Sheila Jackson Lee is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1995. The district includes most of inner-city Houston. She is a member of the Democratic Party.-Early life and education:...
(D-Texas) exclaimed to Washington and other Justice Department officials, "Shame on you.... As a parent, I'm on the verge of tears," and demanded, "I want to know what you're going to do to get Mychal Bell out of jail!" US Attorney Washington responded that the federal government had a limited role to play in the matter.
Representative Lee and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus
Congressional Black Caucus
The Congressional Black Caucus is an organization representing the black members of the United States Congress. Membership is exclusive to blacks, and its chair in the 112th Congress is Representative Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri.-Aims:...
called upon outgoing Louisiana Governor Blanco to pardon
Pardon
Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. It is a general concept that encompasses several related procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves...
the Jena Six on December 19, 2007, stating that "we believe Mychal Bell and the Jena 6 have paid a sufficient debt to society for any transgressions they may have committed." Blanco's office responded that she cannot grant pardons without a recommendation from the state Pardon Board, and no meeting of that body was scheduled during her remaining term of office. Walters commented that Lee's "passion for racial equality is admirable, but her grasp of the facts is not." He indicated that the attack on Barker was not just a schoolyard fight "but rather an unprovoked, unforeseen assault on a young man who had nothing to do with the hanging of the nooses." Governor Blanco's term of office ended without any pardons being granted.
On July 31, 2007, the school had the tree cut down. School Board member Fowler said, "There's nothing positive about that old tree. It's all negative. And I'm serving on the new School Board, and we're wanting to start fresh on some things." According to Fowler, the tree would have had to have been cut down to make way for the rebuilding of the school after the fire. Others felt that cutting down the tree was not an effective way to address any problems of racism in Jena. "Cutting down that beautiful tree won't solve the problem at hand," said Caseptla Bailey, Robert Bailey's mother. "It still happened." The remains of the building have been cleared, and a bid accepted for the reconstruction.
Jones and Purvis attended the BET Hip Hop Awards
BET Hip Hop Awards
The BET Hip Hop Awards are an annual awards show, airing on BET, showcasing hip hop performers, producers and music video directors. The awards ceremony began in 2006, was held on November 12, 2006 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, was first aired November 15 and was hosted by comedian Katt...
in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
on October 13, 2007 and presented the award for Video of the Year
BET Award for Video of the Year
The BET Award for Video of the Year is given to the most popular music video released the same or previous year of the year the awards are handed out. The award is only given to the performing artist or group in the video. The award is not handed out to the video directors and producers...
. When the two defendants came out on stage, they were greeted by a standing ovation. Emcee Katt Williams
Katt Williams
Micah S. Katt Williams is a U.S. comedian, rapper, and actor. He is best known for his role as Money Mike in Friday After Next...
joked, "They don't look so tough, do they?" The two members delivered speeches thanking family, friends, the "Hip-Hop Nation", and those who came to Jena.
Justin Barker and his parents filed suit on November 29, 2007 against the parents of those accused of beating him, the adult members of the Jena Six (as of the time of the attack), an additional student named Malcolm Shaw and the LaSalle Parish School Board. Barker's medical bills from his emergency room visit totaled more than $5,000. The lawsuit alleges that the LaSalle Parish School Board inadequately supervised students and failed to maintain discipline. The Barkers also allege that the school board did not implement a plan to "discourage the dangerous activity of threatening and attacking other students while in possession of actual knowledge of said threats and prior attacks while the students are on school grounds". The case was on hold pending resolution of the criminal cases, but when the Barkers' attorney learned that Jesse Ray Beard was using defense funds (which might be garnished) to pay for private school, he decided to push ahead with the case. However, following a motion by Bell's civil attorney to recuse Mauffray in the civil case, proceedings were again put on hold pending appointment of a judge to hear that recusal motion. Mauffray subsequently retired, and on March 16, 2009, Judge Ronald Lewellyan was assigned to hear the case. On June 26, 2009, Judge Lewellyan approved a settlement of Barker's claims against the Jena Six, though the claim against the school board remained pending.
Members' subsequent activities
In February 2007, Jesse Ray Beard was accused, and subsequently convicted and sentenced for simple battery, simple criminal damage to property less than $500 and simple assault. He received a suspended sentence of incarceration, and was placed on house arrest.On July 9, 2008, Beard, by then aged 17, was released from house arrest so that he could attend a summer program and football camp in New York State
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. It was revealed at a hearing on that date that Beard had been recommended for expulsion for thirteen disciplinary actions, but that the recommendation had been overturned. In New York, he stayed with a local attorney and worked as an intern in the attorney's office, while taking summer courses to prepare him for junior year. He was required to return to Jena by August 11. However, on August 6, Yeager terminated Beard's probation (he remains under the conditions of his bail release in the Barker incident) so he could attend the Canterbury School in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. Half of the $39,900 annual tuition was paid for with Jena Six defense fund money.
Bryant Purvis, aged 19, was arrested on February 7, 2008 for an assault causing bodily injury on a fellow high school student in Texas, where he now resides. Purvis was placed on probation for a year and required to do community service for the offense. He enrolled at Ranger College
Ranger College
Ranger College is a community college located in Ranger, Texas, a small town west of Fort Worth, Texas. The college's website asserts that it "is one of the oldest public two-year colleges in continuous operation in the state of Texas." In conjunction with its main campus in Ranger, the college...
, a junior college, attending on a basketball scholarship.
Corwin Jones, by then aged 19, was arrested on May 10, 2008 in LaSalle Parish on a charge of misdemeanor simple battery, stemming from an incident three days earlier in which the Sheriff's Department alleges that Jones struck a man from behind as several people, including Jones, came towards the man and his friends, with Jones' companions carrying baseball bats. Jones denied fault, stating that the incident was caused by a fight the previous day in which Jones states he was not involved, that he had been harassed and intimidated, and "that the incident that day 'struck a nerve and I reacted'." Jones had previously been arrested on January 24, 2008 on a trespass
Trespass
Trespass is an area of tort law broadly divided into three groups: trespass to the person, trespass to chattels and trespass to land.Trespass to the person, historically involved six separate trespasses: threats, assault, battery, wounding, mayhem, and maiming...
-related charge. According to his father, Jones received his diploma from Jena High School because he had completed his school work before his arrest, and moved out of Jena, working in a hotel.
Also on May 10, Mychal Bell was stopped in Olla, Louisiana
Olla, Louisiana
Olla is a municipality in northwest La Salle Parish, Louisiana, United States. Olla has a federally recognized downtown Historic District. The population was 1,617 at the 2010 census...
for speeding and not having proper vehicle insurance while on a weekend pass from his sentence. Bell was not supposed to leave Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe, Louisiana
Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...
during the pass. The vehicle was towed due to the lack of insurance. In an interview televised on CNN on August 24, 2008, Bell admitted to striking Barker and called Jena "a real racist town". On August 27, 2008, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association
Louisiana High School Athletic Association
The Louisiana High School Athletic Association is the agency which regulates and promotes the interscholastic athletic competitions of all high schools in the state of Louisiana.- Organization :...
turned down Bell's request for an extra year of athletic eligibility. Marcus Jones, Bell's father, blamed Bell's attorney at the time of the plea agreement for the denial. "If it weren't for his attorney, Mychal would be able to play football," Jones said. "They coerced him into taking that plea agreement. If he wouldn't have taken that plea, he wouldn't be in the position he's in now." After the hearing, Jones allegedly spat in the face of his son's attorney, Carol Powell-Lexing, and supposedly also pushed her to the floor. Jones denied assaulting Powell-Lexing, stating he would never get into a physical fight with a woman. Jones was charged with assault. Despite the alleged assault, Powell-Lexing continued as part of Bell's defense team. Bell's mother, Melissa Bell, was arrested on October 11, 2008 on two counts of aggravated battery for allegedly hitting two women with a shovel, and was held on $100,000 bail. She was arrested again on April 6, 2009, on a charge of contempt of court for failure to pay child support.
On December 24, 2008, Bell was arrested and charged with shoplifting, resisting arrest, and simple assault. According to police, Bell was caught as he and another male attempted to steal $370 worth of clothing from Dillard's department store. While being arrested, he reportedly fought back against a security guard and off-duty police officer. He was released on $1,300 bond. On December 29, 2008, Bell shot himself in the chest with a .22-caliber pistol in a failed attempt to take his own life, stating to police that he was tired of all the media attention. Since the hospital in Monroe was unable to stop his internal bleeding, Bell was transferred to a hospital in Shreveport for specialist care. Powell-Lexing denied that Bell had tried to kill himself, saying that the gun went off while Bell was attempting to clean it. On January 15, 2009, CNN featured an interview with Bell in which he indicated that he obtained a gun out of despair following the shoplifting arrest, initially tried to shoot himself in the head, but the gun misfired, and that he then shot himself in the chest. Bell stated that he is back in school and still hopes to receive a college football scholarship. As these were Bell's first charges as an adult, he was eligible for a diversion program; the charges were dismissed in early 2010. Bell enrolled at Southern University
Southern University
Southern University and A&M College is a historically black college located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The Baton Rouge campus is located on Scott’s Bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in the northern section...
in 2009.
On May 22, 2010, Mychal Bell was arrested and charged with simple battery after an incident at a Jena barber shop. According to the arresting officers, after being read his Miranda rights, Bell informed them that he attacked the man for "running his mouth". Bell said he punched the victim in the face, put him in a headlock and rammed his head into a table.
Robert Bailey attended high school at Shaw High School in Columbus, Georgia
Columbus, Georgia
Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Muscogee County, Georgia, United States, with which it is consolidated. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 189,885. It is the principal city of the Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area, which, in 2009, had an estimated population of 292,795...
, where he was granted an extra year's eligibility to play football. Theo Shaw was able to attend classes at another high school and have his credits transferred to Jena, receiving a Jena High School diploma although he participated in a graduation ceremony at the other school.
External links
- FAQ of the case and local coverage from The Town Talk (Alexandria, Louisiana)
- The Washington Post page on the Jena Six controversy
- Court of Appeals rulings in State v. Bell
- NPR coverage of the Jena Six
- Gabriel J. ChinGabriel J. ChinGabriel Jack Chin is an author, legal scholar, and Professor at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. Chin is the Chester H. Smith Professor of Law and co-director of the Program in Criminal Law and Policy at the James E. Rogers College of Law, and Professor at the School of...
, The Jena Six and the History of Racially Compromised Justice in Louisiana, 44 Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law ReviewHarvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law ReviewThe Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review is a student-run law review Harvard Law School. The journal is published two times per year and contains articles, essays, and book reviews concerning civil rights and liberties...
361 (2009).