The Jena Six
I first learned of the Jena Six yesterday from NPR. Today I found a post that Shelley Powers wrote at about the same time. I’m glad she found time to write about it. Mychal Bell, one of the Jena Six, remains in jail on the bizarre “attempted second degree murder” charge that Reed Walters, the local DA, contrived. Bell was sixteen when he was charged, seventeen when he was convicted, and the charge has finally been thrown out on appeal because he never should have been tried as an adult in the first place. Shelley links to Amy Goodman and Trey Ellis, who writes:
Hate and prejudice are learned. They are passed down from one poisoned generation to the next. The Duke case made headlines and never left us until a corrupt DA was punished. This case took 8 months to come to light and will pass with no public official held accountable. There are indeed two judicial systems. As long as that is the case we will never be the country we dream of but only the nightmare we dread.
The prosecution is indeed an example of the disparities in justice administration in the USA. Here in Wisconsin 383 of every hundred thousand people are in prison (about 0.4%). But, that includes 4,416 of every hundred thousand black Wisconsinites (about 4.4%). These numbers show that the disparity in justice administration is not confined to some small towns in the south, but is generally pervasive.
Mychal Bell and his friends and family have suffered terribly and disproportionately for the harm done. I hope that the light that is being shed on the disparity in justice administration in Jena, Louisiana will shine far and wide, and that those kids will take some measure of satisfaction from catalyzing a moment of awareness for all of us. God knows they’ll never get this year back.
I think Shelley’s post and Amy Goodman’s coverage are mandatory reading if you want to understand what’s going on in Jena.
