The Jena Six

[Darion]

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3628976

I am attempting to find a more complete timeline of events than what is being presented by the wires, as the actual series of events given is very sparse.

[Malacasta]

Thanks Darion. I've been following this for a while now, but was waiting for someone else to post it.

I've read some pretty good chronologies but haven't got them to hand at the moment. However I happened to be reading Malkin when you posted this and one of the commenters there linked to the local Jena Times chronology.

For the record, I think it's one of the more apologetic and editorialized pieces of crap I've read for a while, but it does give the list of events. You need to scroll down to see the chronology.

http://www.thejenatimes.net/home_pag...hics/home.html

[Darion]

"The victim, Matt Windham, alleges that three black males attacked and robbed him while the three accused are claiming self-defense."

Classic.

"An all-white jury was selected, however, it should be noted that no potential black jurors showed up for jury duty although several were summoned."

Excellent! During the protest, even.

I will say that the actions taken by the both sides are disturbing, but I will tentatively say that I begrudgingly support whitey's desire to be ignorant before I will side with seven people committing felony assault on a single person who was apparently uninvolved with all the hoopla.

[Savaric]

Originally posted by Darion
[B "An all-white jury was selected, however, it should be noted that no potential black jurors showed up for jury duty although several were summoned." [/B]

Now that's some funny shit. Can't completely blame them for not wanting to get caught up in a high-profile race trial. Afterall we've had riots over these things.

[Savaric]

From Mala's article I'm seeing conflicting stuff. Last night I watched a CNN news anchor say the kid attended a party later on after being released from the hospital. Here it says it was a ring ceremony.

And if any of that event is true of the actual beating I hope they get tossed into the system. Unconcious, still beating on him, keeping others from breaking up the fight. That -is- attempted murder. Lock their asses up.

[Savaric]

Sorry got the quote instead of edit.

[Malacasta]

Bullshit it's attempted murder. If 6 people wanted to kill a single person, they'd do more than cause superficial injuries that allowed the victim to party later on that night.

What fights (school or otherwise) have you been in where the participants happily allow others to break them up? I've never seen a fight like that, you can't conclude it's attempted murder from that.

[Malacasta]

Originally posted by Darion
I will say that the actions taken by the both sides are disturbing, but I will tentatively say that I begrudgingly support whitey's desire to be ignorant before I will side with seven people committing felony assault on a single person who was apparently uninvolved with all the hoopla.

I think you're misunderstanding what the hoopla is about. From what I have read, the "Free the Jena 6" slogan is a call for equal justice. For example, if a juvenile faces 15 years in jail for beating up on a white kid in school, then a male adult who beat up a black kid with a beer bottle should also be charged with aggravated assault or attempted murder.

If that 22 year old man walks free, and the noose hangers walk free, then equal justice is that the Jena 6 should walk free.

Whitey being ignorant (I assume you mean that the noose hangers were racist, not that the noose hangers didn't know what noose hanging meant - which is a despicable lie) and society meeting that ignorance without comment is a sign of a generalized, implicit racism. If people can shrug their shoulders at nooses then it's also easy to ignore injustice within the legal system. When a white person is charged with a misdemeanor for committing a crime, and an African American is charged with attempted murder for the same crime, then racism has reached the point where your skin color determines how the justice system will treat you.

Such a result is far more serious than a black kid being beaten with a beer bottle, or a white kid being knocked unconscious in a 6 on 1 beating.

[Gaviani]

I don't want to speak to the whole of your post, Malacasta, because the largest part of it - that racism vis-a-vis a justice system is bad, etc. - is something that I don't think anyone disagrees about; however, there were a few things I wanted to point out.

For example, if a juvenile faces 15 years in jail for beating up on a white kid in school, then a male adult who beat up a black kid with a beer bottle should also be charged with aggravated assault or attempted murder.

Absolutely. Or, well, not knowing any further facts to it, which makes making definitive statements difficult. But barring any other relevant things to compare, if anything, the adult should receive a more stringent punishment, I'm sure almost all reasonable people would agree.

If that 22 year old man walks free, and the noose hangers walk free, then equal justice is that the Jena 6 should walk free.

Here's where I had a problem. I don't cede that said 22 year old should walk free in the first place: however, and this is only according to the article, it doesn't appear that that jurisdiction has any statute under which to charge the noose hangers with a crime. If that makes your answer "pass a law" or "sue them in civil court" or any number of other things - great, do that. That having been said, while hanging nooses is obviously both overtly racist and extraordinarily deplorable, if it's not a crime, there's simply no basis for the state to lock them up in the first place, much less "let them walk free." If - and only if - there is no statute to arrest/charge the noose hangers in the first place, then their being let go is no basis of comparison for the Jena 6 in the first place; and, frankly, if that's the case, I want to see the Jena 6 tried the same as any other typical battery with these kind of aggravating circumstances (the kid battered wasn't involved in the original racist goings-on, and it was six on one). Was it attempted murder? I don't know - probably not, if he was able to get up and walk the next day. Was it felony battery? Yeah, it sure as hell looks like it to me.

The point I'm getting at is that the process means something, and often much more than the ends themselves. As reprehensible as the idea of letting the noose-hangers go may be, if there's not a legal basis [again, basing that statement purely on the article Darion posted] to charge them, you have to do that. Letting six kids guilty of battery go to "balance" that doesn't seem to serve justice to me at all.

[Savaric]

Originally posted by Malacasta
If people can shrug their shoulders at nooses then it's also easy to ignore injustice within the legal system. When a white person is charged with a misdemeanor for committing a crime, and an African American is charged with attempted murder for the same crime, then racism has reached the point where your skin color determines how the justice system will treat you.

You know the kid that got beat didn't hang the nooses up. He had nothing to do with it. Race aside, 6 people violently assaulted someone. Bottom line. You can't debate it- you can't go anywhere else with it. It doesn't matter if the kid was released later that day. That just tells me he was lucky.

I would rather see you getting pissed about whites not receiving the proper punishment than giving blacks an okay for "evening" the playing field- which is exactly what you're doing.