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RESPONDING TO THE CRISIS IN JENA, LOUISIANA
The Jena Case in Brief
On the morning of September 1, 2006, three nooses dangled from a tree in the High School square in Jena, Louisiana. The day before, at a school assembly, black students had asked the vice principal if they could sit under that tree.
Characterizing the noose incident as an innocent prank, a discipline committee meted out a few days of in-school suspension and declared the matter settled.
At the end of November, the central academic wing of Jena High School was destroyed by fire (the smoke damage is evident in the picture above). Over the weekend, a stream of white-initiated racial violence swept over the tiny community, adding to the trauma and tension. The following Monday, a white student was punched and kicked following a lunch-hour taunting match. Six black athletes were arrested and charged with conspiracy to attempt second-degree murder. If convicted, some defendants are facing sentences of between twenty-five and 100 years in prison without parole.
A survey of relevant events:
· On Thursday, August 31, 2006, a small group of black students asked if they could sit under a tree on the traditionally white side of the Jena High School square.
· The students were informed by the Vice Principal that they could sit wherever they pleased.
· The following day, September 1, 2006, three nooses were found hanging from the tree in question. Two of the nooses were black and one was gold: the Jena High School colors.
· On Tuesday night, September 5, 2006, a group of black parents convened at the L&A Missionary Baptist Church in Jena to discuss their response to what they considered a hate crime and an act of intimidation.
· When black students staged an impromptu protest under the tree on Wednesday, September 6, 2006, a school assembly was hastily convened. Flanked by police officers, District Attorney Reed Walters warned black students that additional unrest would be treated as a criminal matter. According to multiple witnesses, Walters warned the black student protestors that, "I can make your lives disappear with a stroke of my pen." This was widely interpreted as a reference to the filing of charges carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison.
· On Thursday, September 7th, police officers patrolled the halls of Jena High School and on Friday, September 8 th, the school was placed on full lockdown. Most students, black and white, either stayed home, or were picked up by parents shortly after the lockdown was imposed. The Jena Times suggested that black parents were to blame for the unrest at the school because their September 5th gathering had attracted media attention.
· Principal Scott Windham recommended to an expulsion hearing committee that the three white boys responsible for hanging the nooses in the tree should be expelled from school.
· On Thursday September 7, 2006, asserting that the noose were merely a silly prank inspired by a hanging scene in the television min-series 'Lonesome Dove', the committee opted for a few days of in-school suspension. The names of the three students were not released to the public for reasons of confidentiality.
· According to press accounts, on September 10, 2006, several dozen black parents attempted to address a meeting of the school board but were refused an opportunity to speak.
· At a second September meeting of the school board, September 18, 2006, a representative of the black families was allowed to give a five-minute statement, but school board refused to discuss the "noose issue" because the matter had been fully addressed and resolved.
· Although few major disciplinary issues emerged during the fall semester at Jena High School, there is strong evidence that several black male students remained unusually agitated throughout the semester and that disciplinary referrals on these students spiked sharply.
· On Thursday, November 30, 2006, the academic wing of the Jena High School was largely destroyed by a massive fire. Officials strongly suspect arson.
· Throughout the following weekend, Jena was engulfed by a wave of racially tinged violence.
· In one incident, a black student was assaulted by a white adult as he entered a predominantly white partly held at the Fair Barn (a large metal building reserved for social events). After being struck in the face without warning, the young black student was assaulted by white students wielding beer bottles and was punched and kicked before adults broke up the fight. It has been reported that the white assailant who threw the first punch was subsequently charged with simple battery (a misdemeanor), but there is no documentary evidence that anyone was charged.
· In a second major incident, a white high school graduate who had been involved in the assault the night before pulled a pump-action shotgun on three black high school students as they exited the Gotta-Go, a local convenience store. After a brief struggle for possession of the firearm, the black students exited the scene with the weapon.
· The Jena Times has reported that, in light of these racially-tinged incidents, several high school teachers begged school administrators to postpone the resumption of classes until the wave of hysteria had dissipated. This request was ignored and classes resumed the morning of Monday, December 4, 2006.
· Shortly after the lunch hour of Monday, December 4, 2006, a fight between a white student and a black student reportedly ended with the white student being knocked to the floor. Several black students reportedly attacked the white student as he lay unconscious. Because the incident took place in a crowded area and was over in a matter of seconds eye witness accounts vary widely. Written statements from students closest to the scene (in space and time) suggest that the incident was sparked by an angry exchange in the gymnasium moments before in which the black student assaulted at the Fair Barn was taunted for having his "ass whipped".
· The victim of the attack is close friends of the boys who have admitted to hanging the nooses in September of 2006.
· Within an hour of the fight, six black students were arrested and charged with aggravated battery. According to The Jena Times, at least a dozen teachers subsequently threatened a "sick-out" if discipline was not restored to the school. According to the Alexandria Town Talk, District Attorney Reed Walters responded to the teacher's threat by upping the charges on the six boys to attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit second-degree murder—charges carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison.
· On the basis of the charges filed by the District Attorney's office, all six black students have been expelled for the remainder of the school year and, according to The Jena Times , several teachers quickly demanded that the accused boys be barred from the school for life.
· On December 13, 2006, District Attorney, Reed Walters published a statement in The Jena Times in which the young men arrested in the school fight incident were characterized as criminals who had been terrorizing both the school and the community. The sloppy wording of the statement and an introduction associating the tirade with the "recent two incidents at Jena High School" created the impression that those accused of involvement in the fight were also suspected of settling the school fire.
· The Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct 3.6(a) state that: "A lawyer who is participating or has participated in the investigation or litigation of a matter shall not make an extrajudicial statement that the lawyer knows or reasonably should know will be disseminated by means of public communication and will have a substantial likelihood of materially prejudicing an adjudicative proceeding in the matter."
· At a January 29 school board meeting called to consider the possibility of reversing the decision to expel the students, District Attorney Reed Walters, appeared as the school district's legal counsel. Although it is standard practice in Louisiana for district attorneys to represent the local school board, there is strong evidence that the disciplinary investigation undertaken by the school and the criminal investigation of the December 4 fight are virtually indistinguishable. This heightens the impression that the charges filed by DA Reed Walters reflect the understandable hysteria engulfing both the student body and the school faculty in the wake of the school fire and a weekend of racial violence.
Preliminary Observations :
The competence and independence of investigators is seriously in doubt .
· There can be little doubt that a white student was assaulted by several black students at Jena High School on December 4, 2006. However, conflicting eye witness statements make it extremely difficult to determine the number of participants or the identity of the alleged assailants with any degree of certainty.
· It is virtually certain that at least one of the alleged assailants was not near the scene of the fight. Most of the students accused of participating in the assault deny involvement.
· The defendants are invariably described as "good kids" by black residents. One of the defendants is a highly respected athlete with a clean disciplinary record who has been repeatedly praised by his coaches as an exemplary student on and off the football field.
· The assault on a black student at the Fair Barn on Friday night and the fight at Jena High School on Monday morning are mirror images. In the first instance, a white twenty-two year-old initiated the fight with a punch to the face of a black seventeen year-old; at the school, a yet unidentified black student initiated the fight with a punch to the face. In both instances, the assailant's friends joined the fray instantly. The striking difference is that the white youth responsible for the Friday incident have not been charged while those allegedly responsible for the school fight are facing charges that could send them to prison for 100 years without parole..
· Although a "bill of information" (based largely on mutually contradictory eye witness accounts) has been filed in connection with these cases, none of the accused has been formally indicted. In the state of Louisiana, only defendants facing the death penalty or life in prison must be indicted.
· In the state of Louisiana, if the victim of an alleged assault is a juvenile, the assailant can be found guilty of attempted second-degree murder even if there was no clear intent to do serious bodily harm. In other words, a seventeen year-old who strikes another seventeen year-old can end up doing fifty years without parole. Any "enhancement" (such as a prior conviction) doubles the penalty.
· An attorney hired to represent two of the defendants was informed by District Judge J. P. Mauffray that he could represent neither because, having interviewed both clients, he had a conflict of interest if one of them should decide to testify for the state. This ruling has been appealed.
The behavior of school officials and school board members reflects a breathtaking insensitivity to the mixture of anger, intimidation and horror inspired by the hate crime of late August.
· The response of school administrators to a flagrant hate crime was radically insufficient. According to The Jena Times, the noose incident was officially characterized as a harmless prank in which white students were merely imitating the actions of cowboy vigilantes in the television mini-series, 'Lonesome Dove' with no intent to intimidate the black students who had expressed a desire to sit under the tree. This construal of the noose incident is so unconvincing that the objectivity of anyone who accepts it must be questioned by any reasonable observer.
· In several statements published in The Jena Times, investigators have insisted that the alleged fight at the High School has no connection to either the November fire or the September noose incident. This statement violates the canons of simple common sense. Indeed, as the teacher's post-fire plea to administrators suggests, the incendiary atmosphere created by the tragic fire and a weekend of white-initiated racial violence made a violent episode at the High School virtually certain. The objectivity and independence of LaSalle Parish investigators would be regarded as suspect by any reasonable person.
· Unambiguous hate crimes call for harsh discipline and an extensive program of sensitivity training for administrators, teachers and the student body. Yet school administrators failed to discuss this or any other serious option.
· Even in the face of heartfelt pleas from black parents, school administrators and the LaSalle Parish School Board refused to discuss the implications of the noose issue.
· This derogation of responsibility would be deeply troubling to any reasonable observer with even a cursory appreciation for the racial history of the region.
· Similarly, school administrators who placed the school on lockdown following the noose incident in September failed to anticipate trouble on December 4, 2006.
The ethical lapses and flawed professional judgment of LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters call for strong remedial action:
· On September 6, 2006, Mr. Walters made intimidating remarks interpreted by many black students as a suggestion that any illegal acts committed in response to the noose incident would result in a life sentence.
· Mr. Walters' published comments in the December 13, 2006 edition of The Jena Times represent an unambiguous attempt to poison the minds of potential jurors and grand jurors.
· Mr. Walters' decision to increase the charges of defendants involved in the alleged fight at the school to attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to attempt second-degree murder have transformed a routine school fight into a premeditated gangland hit perpetrated by street thugs intent on murder. This bizarre escalation of charges is impossible to justify on even the most extreme and pro-prosecution interpretation of the meager facts at hand.
· There is strong evidence that Mr. Walters, in his role as counsel for the LaSalle School Board, has been so influenced by the atmosphere of paranoid trauma sweeping the school in the aftermath of (a) the noose incident, (b) the school fire and (c) a weekend of racial violence, that he has lost any remnant of professional objectivity.
Response
Restoring justice to Jena will require the following:
· The Louisiana State Police must be assigned to the investigation of the alleged fight at the school.
· The legal cases cited above must be transferred to an alternative venue.
· A special prosecutor must be assigned to prosecute whatever charges (if any) are deemed appropriate on the basis of an independent state police investigation.
· Judge J.P. Mauffray's capricious decision to bar two defendants from acquiring competent legal counsel is a strong indicator of pro-prosecution bias. In the interest of justice, Judge Mauffray should recuse himself from the cases described above.
· The Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice should launch a full investigation into events in Jena, Louisiana, beginning with the noose incident of August 31, 2006, and culminating in the alleged fight of December 4, 2006 to determine if the civil rights of Jena residents have been violated.
· The inaction of the LaSalle Parish School Board on the noose incident represents a clear violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Therefore, a written complaint should be filed with the U.S. Department of Justice.
· The LaSalle Parish school system must institute a rigorous program of diversity education beginning in elementary school and continuing through high school with a particular focus on the history of race relations in America and the virtues of pluralism, mutual respect and equal opportunity. In addition, a yearly, system-wide in-service diversity training program must be provided for teachers and administrators.
Alan Bean
Friends of Justice
(806)995-3353
(806)729-7889
bean [at] cebridge [dot] net
23 comments:
The Afrosphere is a national and international group of Black bloggers dedicated to equality in the criminal and civil justice systems for Blacks and all Americans. Within the Afrosphere we have a group called the Black Accused Support Groups (BASG) that works with Black people, family, friends and communities, to assure that individual Blacks and all Blacks receive justice in the criminal justice system.
Our blogs have just become aware of the situation in Jena as a result of an article by Howard Witt, and we have begun reporting on the cases. We offer our support to individuals and the community, to publicize and strategize about solutions for Jena and and similar situations that exist, unfortunately, across throughout the United States of America.
Although Howard Witt is an excellent reporter, we should not have to read national white newspapers to find out what's going on in local Black communities. By linking all of our blogs together, we are able to stay on top of important stories before the are mentioned in the national press and even if they are never mentioned in the national press, because when all of our blogs are linked together, we become a national press.
Jesus God. I'd known the basics of this, but not so many details--it's like the 60's never happened. So fucked up.
I've posted a few contacts at my site along with the list of recommended options. My suggestion is that for those of us who listen to other forms of Black media (i.e. - Talk radio, podcasts, T.V.) we should be calling in, emailing etc. trying to get as many national forms of press on this as possible.
Grace and Peace,
and blessings on your blog!,
B.
Sorry!
http://www.inpursuitofperfection.typepad.com
This case strikes at the heart of disparity in justice and how African-American children (especially, black boys) are criminalized by collaboration of the public school system and the juvenile justice system, in the same way as Shaquanda Cotton (Paris, TX). Please keep me advised on each new development, as I seek out a strategy for intervention from the Civil Rights Division of (whatever office-state or federal, Justice, or Dept. of Education). There must be an open door for this case. We just need to find it before these kids get railroaded.
This post chills me to the marrow. Thank you for providing the details, only some of which I knew.
I've linked to it from my blog, and I'm encouraging everyone who reads it to do the same.
I first became aware of the Jena Six case after seeing Amy Goodman's Democracy Now tv show. It is crucial that EVERY African American support these young people by contacting his or her elected official and persuade them to act now.
This incident is soo blatant as to what's going on in todays world, covered up or not. You'd be either racist yourself to not belive this stuff goes on everywhere or just plain stupid. I give my prayers to all who is being injusticed. Also I am placing a link to this website on www.2008votes.net and hope that we can get a positive outcome for this situation as well as others that are going on which everyone do not know about.
Nigger: An Extremely Holy Word
"America's 1st Black Prez USA from Ann Arbor, MI"
AlbertHoward.org
What you have describe sounds very troubling in your community. I am from miami and we have our share of disagreement and distrust within the hispanic community, but the tension in your town is troubling.
In my objective opinion, all parties should stand back and breath before making emotional or racial profiling decision. What i read from your article, i believe that both sides are guilty. Someone in the community needs to take charge of the situation before it gets out of control.
It's saddens me deeply that parents still teach children to hate. Nothing has changed...nothing.
I give it to you! You are better than CNN. Some of your facts are true which is unusual in this case. I am black and I work in Jena. I go there everyday and I see how black people and white people interact. Every morning and every evening I always say HI to each person when I see them. No anger from me to them and vice versa. What I don't understand is how all these black people, my own people can come down here and claim racism exists is this town. Ask Jason Hatcher about htis town. Maybe ya'll will listen to him because you won't listen to Donald Washington, an very educated african-american, who was ordered from the US government to investigate this and he stated alot of facts that were not aired or printed because they were true.
Please people see what is happening. Our leaders Sharpton and Jackson are lining their own pockets with our money and they are setting us back for years causing more hatred for the black community. What needs to be known is that all this money everyone donated to the defense fund is used to buy new jaguars for the parents of the Jena 6. Yes print that. Mychal Bell's mom was seen in a brand new jaguar. And Theo was seen rolling around in hundred dollar bills. Yes talk about justice. These kids I know and they have been trouble makers from the day they were born. Look at Mychal Bell, his 5th conviction. Aggravated Battery means assault someone is my terms. Yes why not make the penalty a little stiffer so he might get the hint and not aggravate anyone anymore.
Just a few thoughs but I guess I am mad because the money we donated was spent on cars, clothes, and houses and it should have been spent on getting our brothers out of poverty by building houses and helping fo ra good cause. My message to all the blacks here and their leaders, PLEASE LEAVE and do not come down here unless you come to visit.
Reginald, you and your community have been on the minds and hearts of the members of the AfroSpear since we learned about this "Noose High School" outrage.
I have to tell you that it brings tears to my eyes right now to think about all that we've collectively been through over the last months, building a movement that can hear the voices of Black people in the smallest American communities and make those voices heard literally in Brazil, in the United Kingdom, and accross the globe.
I understand that soon there will be Congressional hearings to delve into and address the systemic antagonism that led to the arrests and prosecution of the Jena Six.
Even when these young men have their lives back, we all have to remember that their are other Black men like them in jails and prisons and detention centers all over the United States. This is an abolition movement that has started, that cannot end until all of our people are free.
You facts lean to the right just a bit.......the fact is there was no 'school yard fight'. Micheal & his friends hit the Barker boy in the back of the head and continued to hit and kick him while he was unconscious. The reason Micheal Bell is still injail is because when this happen, he was already on probation for 4 previous charges that had happened in the past year and a half - 3 for assault and 1 criminal damage to property - IN HIS OWN NEIGHBORHOOD. This younge man is not a saint and these other 5 boys made a bad choose in following him. The truth is the Barker boy had nothing to do with the noose hanging. the reason this has gotten national attention is the misinformation out there...
Hi my name is Nadine I reside in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. i am sad to say i have just learned about the Jena 6, and was very disturbed by what is still going on in 2007. I am more dissapointed with some of the comments I have read on this page. Blaming the young black teenagers because they have records, what difference does that make? From what I've read the boy wasn't seriously hurt, he didn't even go to the hospital; so why the attempted murder charges. Why are these boys being made an example of, why weren't the kids who hung the nooses made an example of; that was a hate crime and a threat, for the black kids of that school to NEVER sit under that tree. But honestly nothing is going to change, if everyone just fights. It starts with the adults, if the adults are divided by race than the kids will lead by example. Nothing is going to change if EVERYONE, white and black, hold on to thier ignorance. It's time to make a change in attitudes towards diversity, it's something that's not going away like it or not! Basically all I have to say is I hope the Jena 6 boys find justice, it would be great of all charges were dropped! This was obviuosly meant to send a message to the black residence of this town, and hopefully there will be a stronger message sent by the justice system, that "all men are equal"!
What worries me so much about this travesty is that this country didnt know about this until now. People rely on Fox and CNN to bring them the truth in news and the report everything but truth. People need to stop watching these channels that are ran by the same crooked people that keep the rich. . rich and the poor. . .poor. I read about this back when it first occured and to see that so many are oblivious to the world around them until FOX wants to report it is a sad sad state of affairs.
I don't think Fox wants to see the injustice in Jena....period. They'd rather close their eyes and call the hanging of nooses a silly prank. On the other hand...they love to report how the black youths had priors.
I'm d%%% sick of this injustice & it needs to stop right now. What about the pump shot gun...Is that a silly prank!
Thank you for supplying these facts. The underlying actions of the justice system in Jena and indeed the actions of the town itself, point to a wider injustice then what mainstream media portrays as a misplaced show of civil protest. However, violence is never the answer.
But...I bet the prosecutor and the city of Jena will think twice before railroading the black youth of their town again ;-)
It's amazing to me how Mr. Magoo has taken the time to find out what kind of car Bell's mother is driving, but I don't see anything about the automobiles of Justin Barker or the White kids who beat Robert Bailey Jr. up at the party. I seriously doubt that the money for the defense fund is being used for luxury purposes. And I sure as hell hope you're lying about being Black and saying racism does not exist in Jena. If you are, you are the perfect example of a house nigger: someone who is so brainwashed into believing that a pat on the head and appeasing White racist people will do you some good. News flash: They don't like your self either! I'm betting on you being White, and indeed if you are, you might want to take some of that aggression out on shaping Justin up so he can find more time to work on education and less time bullying and belittling Black people who were minding their own business.
Say it Shamontiel!
I find it odd that many of these "facts" are in direct contradiction to the timeline of events posted in the Jena Times (link below). Like everyone else I, unfortunately, am limited to what I hear from media outlets, but I have to think that their own newspaper can get most things correct. It's a small town. Blatant misrepresentation in the newspaper I would think would be immediately challenged. Regardless, before I get to my thoughts I'd like to point out some interesting contradictory items of note from the Jena Times...
(1) There was no "white" tree, and the comment made at the assembly was intended as a joke (first item in the timeline).
(2) The incident with the two nooses was investigated by the school, local law enforcement, the FBI, and the US Attorney's Office. All came to the same conclusion. Yes I find it hard to believe that there was no finding of any sort of hate crime, but I find it even more significantly difficult to believe that all of those agencies would have reached that conclusion if it were so cut and dry as we've been led to believe (i.e. "white tree" = nooses). If there was something to latch onto there someone would have run with it. Supposedly you can see the report from it (I would assume from the US Attorney's Office or maybe the FBI) but I wouldn't know where to look for that. However if someone else would like to, it might go into more detail as to what the findings were. Also the actual disciplinary actions taken against the perpetrators were not allowed to be released. I've heard as much as two weeks suspension and a month in an alternative school.
(3) When police were notified of the gun incident outside of the Gotta-Go Grocery store, they received two opposing versions of what happened. Now obviously you should try to avoid involving a firearm in any altercation, but eye witnesses unrelated to either party stated to police a scenario in accordance with the individual who had the gun taken away. Seriously if you have unrelated witnesses corroborate a story, don't police have to charge in accordance with that story? The kicker here is that we don't know what either story was. Everyone is making their own assumptions. Granted all parties were probably at fault for something, and all parties should have been punished. I'm pretty sure that the story I've heard that he pulled the gun on them during an altercation is the one side. For the other story I've heard everything from fearing a robbery to simply defending himself. However, since this is the testimony that was backed up by witnesses it's the one that we really need to know to understand how the individuals were charged. I have heard one person say that he shouldn't have gotten the gun if he was in a threatening situation, and that he should have just left. Suppose for instance that he was chased back to his truck and didn't think he could get in, start it up, and drive away safely. He might have thought his only chance was to grab an unloaded firearm in the hopes that it would scare away would-be attackers. I obviously have no clue if that's what happened. I just made that scenario up off of the top of my head, but it does underline the importance of having more facts before we judge with such finality.
(4) In the final altercation that led to the charges filed against the six teenagers, according to the Jena Times, he was immediately knocked unconscious and then beaten. He was taken to the hospital (I don't know where anyone heard that he wasn't) and released a few hours later. He did attempt to attend a school function that night but left early because of pain. His vision was blurred for two weeks (I read) and he continued to suffer ill effects from the assault for some time after that (the Jena Times does not say how long).
--- Now that all having been said, so much of this whole case is a mess. The charges of second degree murder were way too high without a doubt, though it's been reported that that was only to get them tried as adults and that the charges were fully expected to come back down (not that I agree with that practice anyway). Our justice system has a nasty habit of excessive charges regardless of ethnic background to either get a plea or (as in this case) change the dynamic of the trial. However this was disturbing attack. I'm sure you've all seen the pictures of his face afterwards. Surely the "Free the Jena 6" protests don't mean actually that. I agree with others that a different slogan may be more appropriate. They should be rightly charged with assault, but certainly no more. Also purportedly the reason Bell has been in prison so long is because he was on probation for prior assaults. Additionally high bails for some of the "Jena 6" were due to involvement in prior infractions such as the gun incident. Those are just a couple things people may not have heard before... Now I in no way condone the hanging of nooses, however with so many agencies concluding it was a prank, I can't argue against it since they had way more first-hand testimony than I will ever see. Though it takes a complete idiot to even think that would be a good prank. They should have been punished, maybe more than they were, but since I don't know what their actual punishment was I shouldn't argue one way or another. That leads us finally to the real problem. We just don't really know anything about what happened, and sadly we never will. Since this is an online blog, I believe anyone reading on here or posting on here is interested in hearing all sides of this and hopefully gleaning a few facts along the way. I just felt it prudent to share another side, particularly since this side came from Jena itself. I've just heard too many residents in Jena say that this was so blown completely overboard by the media that I have to believe that there is more to all of this than the sensationalized stories I've heard so far. I'm sorry if anything I have said has offended anyone. I only want to share some differing stories that I have come across. I am deeply saddened by what took place in Jena and I only hope that everything can be resolved fairly and peacefully so that it can go back to being the quiet mostly peaceful town it seemed to be before this.
http://www.thejenatimes.net/home_page_graphics/home.html
(if the end of that doesn't show up it's ...graphics/home.html ) Sorry for the excessive length.
you are the only place i have seen that mentions the ruling by the judge disqualifying an attorney representing two of the defendants. you did not mention that the attorney was a black local attorney who also happens to be a very competent defense trial lawyer. The court did not want him there for obvious reasons. unfortunately this was not appealed for financial reasons but should have been. I have no doubt that this attorney would have made a big difference in this case early on
Well I live near Jena in another parish and you should also read this story. And listen to the radio interview with the newspaper author.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1024/p09s01-coop.html
an FBI agent revealed the true motivation behind the placing of two nooses in the tree the day after the assembly. According to the expulsion committee, the crudely constructed nooses were not aimed at black students. Instead, they were understood to be a prank by three white students aimed at their fellow white friends, members of the school rodeo team. (The students apparently got the idea from watching episodes of "Lonesome Dove.")
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