The Jena 6 refers to a group of six black teenagers who have been charged with the beating of a white teenager at Jena High School in Jena, Louisiana, United States, on December 4, 2006. The beating followed a number of racially-charged incidents in the town, notably when three white students hung nooses from a tree at Jena High school following a black student asking if he could sit under the tree.
The Jena Six case has sparked protests, in Jena and elsewhere, by those who believe that the arrests and the subsequent charges were excessive and racially discriminatory, alleging a lack of appropriate disciplinary action, arrests and/or serious charges against white youths in Jena in earlier incidents in the town. U.S. Attorney Donald Washington an African American and a Bush appointee who led an investigation into events in the town, has concluded that there is no evidence of unfair prosecution.
Mychal Bell, the only member of the "Jena Six" to be tried so far, has had his convictions set aside, one by the trial judge and the other by the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal. Both convictions were overturned on the grounds that the defendant should have been tried as a juvenile, not as an adult, because he was sixteen when the incident occurred. Bell was incarcerated for almost 10 months, before being released on September 27, 2007, after bail was posted on his behalf. The District Attorney has indicated he does not plan to appeal further, meaning that Bell will be tried as a juvenile. Bell's retrial is scheduled for December 6, 2007.
Bell was re-incarcerated on October 11, 2007 when a judge revoked his probation for previous convictions.
Background: Noose hangings at Jena High School
At Jena High School, about 10% of enrolled students are black and more than 85% are white. Early reporting asserted 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, referred to as the "white tree" or "prep tree", in the center of the school courtyard. However, according to some teachers and administrators at the school, the tree in question wasn't a "white tree", and students of all races sat under it at one time or another.
A school assembly was held on August 31, 2006. According to media reports, a black male freshman student asked the principal whether he could sit under the "white tree". According to Donald Washington U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana[1] the principal stated that the question was posed in a "jocular fashion". The principal told the students they could "sit wherever they wanted."
The following morning, nooses were discovered hanging from the tree. Initial reports differ whether there were three believed by some to be code for the Ku Klux Klan or two. Among other sources, a chronology of the events published in The Jena Times reported it as being two nooses found that day. 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." According to The Jena Times, the nooses were removed by 7:15 a.m. after school officials were informed.
Repercussions
The school disciplinary process which followed is unclear. It has been reported that Jena's principal learned that three white students were responsible and recommended expulsion, that the board of education overruled his recommendation, and that school superintendant Roy Breithaupt agreed with the overruling. It was initially reported that the punishment was reduced to three days of in-school suspension. According to Breithaupt, however, the three students were isolated at an alternative school for nine days, 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 Crises 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, in their view leading to subsequent events.
On July 31, 2007 the school had the tree cut down. "School's about to start," Billy Fowler, a new school board member said. "We don't want the blacks coming back up there looking at the tree knowing what happened, or the whites. We just want to start fresh." According to Fowler, the tree would have had to have been cut down to make way for the rebuilding of the school after an act of arson that had occurred on November 30.
Others felt that cutting down the tree wasn't an effective way to address the problem of racism in Jena. "Cutting down that beautiful tree won't solve the problem at hand," said Caseptla Bailey, local NAACP president and mother of Robert Bailey Jr., one of the six black teens. "It still happened."
U.S. Attorney Donald Washington stated that the FBI agents who investigated the incident and the federal officials who examined it found that the hanging of the nooses "had all the markings of a hate crime." However, it could not be prosecuted as such because it failed to meet federal standards required for the teens to be certified as adults. District Attorney Walters stated that Washington had found no federal statute under which the teens could be prosecuted, just as he had found no applicable state statute." Walters stated of those who hung the nooses: "The people that did it should be ashamed of what they unleashed on this town."
In late July 2007, Washington noted that of the more than 40 statements taken regarding the assault, none mentioned the noose incident. La Salle Parish District Attorney J. Reed Walters has stated there was 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."
District Attorney Addresses the School Assembly
Police were called to the school several times in the days after the noose incident in response to a rash of interracial fights between students. The principal took action by calling an impromptu assembly on September 6, 2006, in which students segregated themselves into white and black sections. The Jena Police Department asked La Salle Parish District Attorney J. Reed Walters to attend and speak at the assembly. Allegedly, Walters was unhappy with the request because he was busy preparing for a case and, upon arrival, felt that the students were not paying proper attention to him. He warned the students that he could be their friend or their worst enemy, and he stated that "[w]ith one stroke of my pen, I can make your life disappear." 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.
According to The Jena Times, police began patrolling the halls of Jena High on September 7. The following day, the school received a report that a student had brought a gun on campus, prompting a total lockdown, though no gun was ever found.
Students Attempt to Address the School Board
On September 10, 2006, black students attempted to address the school board concerning the recent events but were refused because the board was of the opinion that the noose incident had been adequately resolved.
Jena High School Arson
On November 30, 2006, a wing of the main building of the high school was set on fire. That portion of the building was gutted and had to be later demolished. While arson was determined to be the cause, the arsonists have never been identified.
Fair Barn Party Fight On Friday, December 1, 2006, there was a private party, attended mostly by whites but with some blacks, at the Jena Fair Barn. Five black youths, including 16-year-old Robert Bailey, Jr., attempted to enter the party at about 11 p.m. According to U.S. Attorney Washington, they were told by a woman that no one was allowed inside without an invitation. The five youths persisted, stating that some friends were already in attendance at the party. A white man, who was not a student, then jumped in front of the woman and a fight ensued. After the fight broke up, the woman told both the white man and five black youths to leave the party. Once outside, the black students were involved in another fight with a group of white men, who were not students. Police were called to investigate. Justin Sloan, a white male, was charged with simple battery for his role in the fight and was put on probation. Bailey later stated that one of the white men broke a beer bottle over his head, but there were no official records of Bailey receiving medical treatment.
Convenience Store Incident
On Saturday, December 2, 2006, another incident involving Bailey occurred at a local convenience store. A white student who had attended the Fair Barn party encountered Bailey and several friends. Reports from the involved parties are conflicting. Local police reported that the accounts of the white student and black students contradicted each other and formed a report based on testimony taken from eyewitnesses. The white student claimed 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 the white student with a shotgun. They stated they wrestled the gun away from him and fled the scene. After hearing from an uninvolved witness of unspecified race, the police charged Bailey and two others with three counts: theft of a firearm, second-degree robbery, and disturbing the peace. The white student who produced the weapon was not charged.
Jena Six legal case: The attack on Barker
On December 4, 2006, 17-year-old Justin Barker, a white Jena High School student, was assaulted at school. He was struck in the head by a black student, knocking him unconscious. A group of black students then repeatedly kicked him.
Some individuals have stated that Barker had mocked Robert Bailey, Jr., who had allegedly been beaten up by a white man the previous Friday. Barker denies that.
Superintendent Breithaupt stated that the attack was no ordinary schoolyard fight. "It was a premeditated ambush and attack by six students against one," Breithaupt said. "The victim attacked was beaten and kicked into a state of bloody unconsciousness."
According to relatives of the accused, the six defendants have all been expelled from school.
Barker's injuries
A doctor treated Barker at the local hospital. He was released after two hours of treatment and observation 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. He was able to attend his school's Ring ceremony that evening, though he later testified, "I waited 11 years to go to it. I wasn't going to let that get in my way," and that he ended up leaving 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 suffered recurring headaches and forgetfulness since the attack, though medical tests have not isolated the cause. A nurse testified that Barker had a previous history of migraines.
Trial, Prosecution, and Legal Proceedings
The police arrested the six students, eventually dubbed the "Jena Six", accused of 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 second-degree murder. The sixth student, Jesse Ray Beard, was charged as a juvenile because he was 14 at the time.
Mychal Bell, aged sixteen at the time of the incident, was charged as an adult. The district attorney has stated that he did so due to Bell's criminal record and because he believed Bell initiated the attack.
Mychal Bell proceedings
On June 26, 2007, the first day of trial for defendant Mychal Bell, Walters reduced the charges for Bell to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated second-degree battery. A charge of aggravated battery requires the use of a "deadly weapon". Walters therefore argued that the tennis shoes that Bell was wearing and used to kick Barker with were deadly weapons, an argument with which the jury ultimately agreed. A number of witnesses testified that they saw Bell strike Barker, while other witnesses were unsure Bell was involved. Public defender Blane Williams, himself a black man, had urged Bell to accept a plea bargain, did not challenge the composition of the jury pool, and rested the defense case without calling any witnesses.
Coach Benjy Lewis, the only adult witness to the incident, stated that another student, Malcolm Shaw, was the initial attacker, and was only able to positively identify one other student, not Bell. Lewis was not called to testify in Bell's trial.
All six members of the jury were white. Although the 150-person jury call included black citizens, who make up ten percent of the parish's population, none of the 50 potential jurors who showed up were black. It has been reported that one of the seated jurors was a high school friend of the victim's father.
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. Following the trial, 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 and that the trial should have been held in another parish. A request to lower Mychal 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, and he was subsequently convicted of another battery charge and two charges of criminal damage to property while still on probation. Sources told ESPN that one of the battery charges was for punching a 17-year-old girl in the face, although details of the conviction might be protected under the Louisiana Children's Code.
On September 4, 2007, a judge dismissed the conspiracy charge on the grounds that he should have been tried as a juvenile, but let the battery conviction stand. However, on September 14, 2007, Louisiana's Third Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Bell's battery conviction, also ruling that he shouldn't have been tried as an adult.
Following an order by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal, a hearing was held on September 21, 2007, to determine whether to set bond for Bell. The judge in the hearing denied the request for Bell to be freed while his appeal is being reviewed. A motion by Bell's attorneys to have Judge J.P. Mauffrey recused was also denied.
On September 26, 2007, Louisiana governor Kathleen Blanco announced that the prosecution would not appeal the appellate ruling, but would try Bell as a juvenile. Walters confirmed this on the 27th, and Bell was then released on $45,000 bond.
Bell was bonded out once $5,400 was paid to Cut-Rate Bail Bonding by Dr. Stephen Ayers of Lake Charles, Louisiana. Bell was subject to electronic monitoring and was under the supervision of a probation officer.
On October 11, 2007, Judge Mauffrey found that Bell had violated the terms of his probation 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 even mentioned during the proceedings. Bell's attorney plans to appeal.
Bell's retrial in the Barker assault is scheduled for December 6, 2007.
The Other Five
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.
Despite the overturning of Mychal Bell's conviction, the charges against the other four teenagers remained unaffected because they were over seventeen at the time of the incident, thus making them adults under Louisiana law.
Public Response
The case has brought considerable public comment and even demonstrations from those who argue that the charges against the Jena Six were disproportionate to the crime and racially motivated.
In the wake of these events, an online petition circulated claiming over 428,560 signatures as of September 27, 2007. The petition calls for a review of the events in Jena by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Justice Department.
Defense Fund
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) established a fund to help pay attorney fees. The NAACP noted on its website, in a section labeled "The Facts" that "On Monday, December 4 2006, a white student who allegedly had been racially taunting black students in support of the students who hung the nooses got into a fight with black students." On September 18, musician David Bowie donated $10,000 to it and made a statement, "A donation to the Jena Six Legal Defense Fund is my small gesture indicating my belief that a wrongful charge and sentence should be prevented."
Rallies
Rallies in support of the Jena Six and all blacks in the United States who have been unfairly treated by the justice system were held in Jena and elsewhere in the United States on September 20, 2007, the date when Bell was scheduled for sentencing. Because of the rallies' large expected size (estimates were up to 40,000 to 60,000) Jena High and schools on the south side of La Salle Parish were closed.
An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 demonstrators eventually attended the rally that day severely overtaxing the facilities of the small town of 3,000 residents. Because of the gridlock on the roads leading to Jena, many protesters got off their transports and walked into town on foot. Among those in attendance were civil rights activists Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Martin Luther King III, rappers Mos Def and Salt-n-Pepa, and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. Rapper-actor Ice Cube, who also attended, funded buses to bring protesters from California. Darryl Hunt, an African-American who was wrongfully convicted 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 fraternity. In his speech, entitled We Demand Justice for the Jena 6!, Matthews stated "It is sobering to know that in 2007 Martin Luther Kings dream of equal treatment, respect, fairness and opportunity is still not realized."
In a backlash against the demonstrations, several self described white supremacists also attended the rally. Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke has publicly given support for Jena's "white residents". Duke obtained a majority of the vote in Jena for his unsuccessful bid for Governor during the 1991 Louisiana gubernatorial election.
Threats and Harassment
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." The site is registered to William A. "Bill" White of Roanoke, Virginia, who claims to be the commander of the American National Socialist Workers Party.
Al Sharpton has stated that some of the families have continuously received threatening and harassing phone calls.
On September 27, 2007, it was reported that the New Black Panther Party had announced plans to begin patrolling the streets of Jena in order to protect the Jena Six and their families, as well as other African American residents of the town, "against open and imminent threats from Ku Klux Klan and other White supremacists advocating violence."
Media Coverage
Initially the Jena 6 were largely ignored by traditional press. The case began to receive extensive media coverage in September 2007, both from news reporters and columnists. Michael J. Copps, a Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission noted in a letter to the Washington Post the role of black radio talk show hosts in publicizing the Jena 6 case, and went on to criticize what he sees as a low rate of minority ownership of commercial broadcast television and radio stations. Commissioner Copps wrote that many people of color felt that their concerns were being overlooked by "Big Media".
Black convicted murderer and writer Mumia Abu-Jamal opined that media "coverage, such as it was, was little more than a platform to allow local Jenites to exclaim how they weren't racists, and that nooses are just 'pranks' used by young'uns to have a little fun. . . . How is it possible in the U.S. today for people wearing KKK robes to always intone, 'I'm not a racist?'"
Black Talk Radio
Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post wrote that Black talk radio played an important role in spreading word about the Jena 6. Michael Baisden, whose afternoon drive-time radio show is heard in urban markets across the country was among the first to launch a crusade on behalf of the Jena 6. The story was then taken up by other black radio hosts, morning show host Tom Joyner, comedian Steve Harvey, and the Rev. Al Sharpton. During the protests both Joyner and Harvey shows featured live updates from the scene.
News Reporting
Many of the news reports from Jena have evoked the Civil Rights Movement, made references to lynching, or evoked Jim Crow.
Some reports have pointed out inaccurate reporting by the media. The Associated Press has published an article noting the various reporting errors that have been made.
An article by Jason Whitlock of FOX Sports.com decries repeated references to the attack as a "schoolyard fight." He also points out that it was little-reported that Bell's jury was all-white because none of the blacks who were summoned showed up. Whitlock also criticizes the lack of reporting of Bell's criminal history. According to Whitlock, "much of the mainstream reporting on this story has been misleading, irresponsible and inflammatory."
As well, MTV posted a retraction for incorrect information that it had reported on the case from other news sources.
Columnists and editorials
Columnists criticizing the U.S. criminal justice system, within the context of the Jena Six case, have cited the Urban League's 2005 State of Black America report, which states that the average black male convicted of aggravated assault (the charge against the Jena Six) serves 48 months in prison, one third longer than a comparable white man. That report also stated that an black male who is arrested is three times more likely to go to prison than a white male convicted of the same crime.
Among the columnists feeling that the charges were appropriate was columnist and cartoonist Ted Rall, who noted, "Six against one isn't a schoolyard fight. . . . Kicking someone after they've passed out is attempted murder. Nothing Barker said, no matter how foul, can justify such a vicious assault by bullying jocks. This is the stuff of Columbine."
In a September 28, 2007, column in the Kansas City Star, black columnist Jason Whitlock reports that the initial publicity (including the compact story that the noose incident triggered the other incidents and culminating in the beating) surrounding the Jena Six case was created and orchestrated by Alan Bean (not the astronaut of the same name) a Texas minister and the creator of Friends of Justice, an advocacy group. Whitlock contends that the facts surrounding the case in the media have been seriously distorted by Bean and reports that Jena officials considers Bean's version of the Jena Six events as "hogwash".
In Song
On August 13, 2007, John Mellencamp began recording his next album and the first song with video from this yet to be titled album, called "Jena", was introduced on his web site. The song references the Jena Six and the chorus of the song is "Oh oh oh Jena, Oh oh oh Jena, Take your nooses down." The video juxtaposes scenes from Jena with shots of a black man in shackles, the Ku Klux Klan, and scenes from the civil rights movement, including police beatings and signs defending segregation. Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy are also shown. Mellencamp stated that he decided to release the video because of the newsworthy subject matter of the song. Jena's mayor, Murphy R. McMillan, responded that the song inaccurately depicts the town as racist and unjust, and he called the video defamatory and inflammory. Wrote McMillan, "To put the incident in Jena in the same league as those who were murdered in the 1960s cheapens their sacrifice and insults their memory."
Discord Among Supporters
Louisiana Weekly has reported disputes among supporters of the Jena Six as to who should take the lead in media relations. According to the report, Al Sharpton has sought to limit the role of the NAACP, and sought to prevent them from being present at Bell's release from jail, prompting a sharp letter from the NAACP to Sharpton. The NAACP stated that it has seen a draft contract between Sharpton and Bell's mother, which caused them concern. At the same time, Alan Bean, while sidestepping the dispute, stressed his role in bringing the Jena Six to public attention.
Congressional Action
On September 25, 2007, Representative John Conyers, 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 U.S. Department of Justice into taking what Chairman Conyers deems to be appropriate action. On September 27, 2007, the Congressional Black Caucus called upon the Department of Justice to investigate possible Civil Rights violations in the Jena Six case, saying "This shocking case has focused national and international attention on what appears to be an unbelievable example of the separate and unequal justice that was once commonplace in the Deep South."