Lessons from the Jena 6

by Alan Bean 07-08-2009

P1291349 What lessons do we take away from the Jena 6 story? Six young men won’t be dragging a felony conviction into adult life. That’s reason for rejoicing, but as this saga approaches its third birthday, it’s fair to ask if we have learned anything.

“Jena 6″ was briefly transformed into a popular movement that brought at least 30,000 people to a small central Louisiana town in September of 2007.

Mass awareness of the Jena story was spread by the black blogosphere, radio personalities like Michael Baisden, internet-savvy organizations like Color of Change, and the brief but highly publicized involvement of civil rights celebrities like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

Unfortunately, the movement that culminated with the September 20th march lacked an end game. Nobody knew what came next, so not much did.

Or so it seemed.

The huge turnout on September 20th placed enormous pressure on Jena officials, but the key to success was community organizing, savvy media outreach, and strategic legal work.

Friends of Justice started with the goal of recreating the coalition of reform organizations and legal firms that overturned a corrupt drug sting in Tulia, Texas. Long before anyone from the outside had taken an interest in the story, we were sifting through legal documents, reading local newspaper accounts, and conducting dozens of personal interviews. When the facts were clear, we circulated a six-page narrative account describing what happened, why it happened, and what justice would look like.

Our narrative called for Judge JP Mauffray and District Attorney Reed Walters to recuse themselves from the Jena 6 cases. We supported a change of venue, a Department of Justice investigation, and a program of diversity training in the public schools. We knew none of this could be accomplished without a huge groundswell of indignation, but our first step was to unite and organize the affected community. The families and friends of the defendants gradually learned to withstand the pressure of an outraged white community and to tell their personal stories with verve and enthusiasm.

The community organizing effort required the involvement of natural allies like Tory Pegram and King Downing of the ACLU and, further down the road, James Rucker of Color of Change, but the impetus behind the public meetings and the courthouse demonstrations came from the families and friends of the Jena 6.

Initially, the only media outlet willing to tackle the Jena story was Tony Brown’s Eyes Wide Open radio program in nearby Alexandria. But the minute the local folk were ready to tell their story, Friends of Justice began shopping our narrative to journalists like Howard Witt of the Chicago Tribune and Wade Goodwyn of National Public Radio who could be trusted with a highly ambiguous assortment of facts.

The families and friends of the Jena 6 had been gathering at a local black church and holding demonstrations on the steps of the LaSalle Parish courthouse long before CNN, NPR and the Chicago Tribune were on the scene.

Just as the mainstream media was picking up on Jena, independent journalists and bloggers were warming to the story. Color of Change started collecting signatures for a petition and soliciting donations to a legal defense fund. Across America young black men and women were asking how they could help the Jena 6. The student body of Howard University got into the action and the civil rights community eventually swung its weight behind the Jena justice movement.

When I talked to the folks who came to the massive rally on September 20th it was quickly apparent that the folks who rode the buses were a bit fuzzy about the most basic facts. The general impression was that some white kids had hung nooses in a tree at the high school and black kids had retaliated by beating up one of the noose hangers. There was little understanding that Justin Barker, the victim of the December 4th beat-down, hadn’t been directly involved in the noose hanging incident or that the two episodes were separated by three months.

A scene from September 20th

Jena on September 20th

The facts in Jena were of secondary importance to the bus riders. They were drawn to Jena by personal experience. People told me they were there for a son, a boyfriend, or a nephew who had received grossly disproportionate treatment at the hands of the criminal justice system. These people had no trouble relating to the plight of the Jena 6.

When the crowds left Jena, the movement quickly ran out of gas. It didn’t matter. By that time the five Jena defendants still awaiting adjudication were represented by some of the best legal talent in America. DA Terry McEachern had been no match for the legal “dream team” that rose to the defense of the Tulia 46, and I knew Reed Walters would fare no better against the legal firepower he was facing. The facts were all on the side of the defendants. Another trial would have established the link between the hanging of the nooses in September and the tragic events of December. Reed Walters and his supporters in Jena’s white community simply couldn’t allow that to happen.

[to be continued...]

Alan Bean is the executive director of Friends of Justice. Click here to read his blog.

Categories: Human Rights, Race

teachesinjena

Well, I personally think that they should have had to plead guilty to assault and battery with intent to cause grevious bodily harm. I say this because we have a statement from an African-American student that names four of the six involved as stated that they were going to beat up a white student. There was no target named. The charges of second degree murder were over the top, but I don't know the history of those involved except for Bell. Nothing was ever said about his documented history of violence. All in all, this is over and we hope that everyone outside of Jena will move on. We did.

lumens

One's state of consciousness is not a mere quibble as it pertains to a battery case. Beating someone who is already unconscious will often kill them.

I would hazard a guess there was racial bias operating in the Jena legal system at the time. I cannot say for certain because disentangling the facts from the propaganda is no easy task.

But the principle, in accordance with your previous post, is that the Constitutional rights of the Jena 6 were abrogated by virtue of their race.

If you are going to make that claim, then the details matter. The nature of an attack and the severity of injuries suffered make a difference as to whether an attack is treated as a felony or a misdemeanor. Do you think that shouldn't be the case?

The only legal contention, then, is whether a shoe can be considered a weapon. That's an unorthodox position, but not one without precedent. One can attend greater damage to a victim with shoes than without. The alternative is to regard all stomping attacks that do not result in death as a misdemeanor.

Stein

You quibble with details to avoid dealing with the principle.

Can you assert (with a straight face) that you believe that there was no
racial bias operating in the Jena legal system at the time?

The principle is that it is wrong to insist that justice be enforced
against black offenders while not equally insisting that justice be
given to black victims. Such a position of focusing on this one act in
isolation of its context does not well serve the cause of "justice for
all".

lumens

A student was knocked unconscious, and beaten thereafter. This was not the case with the altercation at the party days prior. So appeals to evenness are misapplied here.

DITE

racist lover

Stein

Is "assault" a crime? Is "murder" a crime?

A kneejerk answer might be "yes", but be carefull -- remember the defense "unusual punishment". Constitutionally, if a law is not regularly (evenly) enforced, and becomes a means by which authorities can discrimate against some group of people, then it ceases to become a law. This is quite proper. It is the foundation of what "rule of law" means. If a law is to mean anything, than it MUST be enforced non-discrimatorially. I'm talking Constitution here.

So I am not convinced that the Jena attackers were guilty of a felony. In the earlier altercation when whites beat up one of the Jena 6, the whites were not charged with felonies. This casts doubt on the Jena 6 guilt on constitutional grounds.

That is what this case is about: Justice for all.
It never was about the actions of the Jena-6 in a vacuum.

alanbean

Lumens:
Please read the second section of this post and tell me what you think.

Alan Bean

lumens

My feeling is that this was politicized to the point that no reasonable outcome to be reached. Beating someone with a shoe can kill someone, and a shoe can certainly serve as a weapon. I'm not at all convinced that six guys who beat a student unconscious shouldn't carry a felony conviction onto their adult records.

I don't care who hung which racial epithet, assault is assault. Anyone capable of assault over a racial epithet (no matter how onerous) is someone I'm going to keep an eye on, black or white.

lumens

"Turns out he felt it necessary to resolve a disagreement by slamming a kid's head against a bench."

That kid was racist, though.

alanbean

By the way, the final five Jena defendants were sentenced to simple battery, one week of unsupervised probation (now completed) and a restitution payment to the family of Justin Barker (amount not disclosed). In my view this sentence is well suited to the facts of the case.

Alan Bean

alanbean

SouthTexasRed: Thanks for your comment. The article in Atlantic was one of the most lucid pieces to emerge from Jena, and I echo many of the author's opinions in the post above (and even more in the follow-up). It was essentially a story about the family of Mychal Bell and DA Reed Walters and suggests that Walters is pretty clueless when it comes to race relations in his small community. The Bell family was championed by Al Sharpton and didn't cooperate with my organization or the attorneys representing the other Jena 6 defendants. The hype surrounding Mychal's case put more pressure on his shoulders than he could handle, no question.

Please consider my comments re the "thug" and "noose" narratives in my next post.

jeffp

I know the story, I didn't know the outcome of the sentencing. It is great news that Revival was swept through the church in Jena. It may also be good news that the media has ignored the revival.

alanbean

Jeff, my apologies for the oversight. I will answer your question with more detail than you were probably looking for.

The Jena 6 were originally charged with attempted murder and conspiracy, the theory being that their tennis shoes constituted weapons. Justin Barker was assaulted at Jena High School on December 4th 2006. It is difficult to assess from witness statements who was responsible or exactly what happened. It is also difficult to assess the severity of Mr. Barker's injuries. His face was badly bruised and one of his eyes was swollen shut. He looked like a boxer after a tough ten-round match. These symptoms caused no lasting damage. The medical expenses related to this case are approximately $4,000, although that too is difficult to pinpoint because Justin had some pre-existing conditions.

When I first learned of the Jena case I did some quick research and discovered that if the defendants were convicted of attempted murder and conspiracy they would do a minimum of twenty-five years without parole.

The prosecution insisted that the assault on Justin Barker was completely unrelated to a series of increasingly violent altercations involving black football players (the Jena 6) and the circle of white male students responsible for hanging the nooses in September of 2006. I thought this was a ludicrous claim. Robert Bailey, one of the Jena 6 defendants, had been assaulted at a dance a few nights before the school incident and had been threatened with an automatic weapon the following morning. Arsonists had set fire to the main academic building at the high school the day before Bailey was attacked--an event that put the entire community on edge (the fire is rarely mentioned in media accounts). But the two groups of boys had been clashing throughout the fall semester. The antagonism began with the noose incident in September and intensified after local officials decided to treat the noose hangers as innocent pranksters who didn't grasp the racial implications of their rash act. Black students protested at the high school, the campus was placed on lockdown, and the DA was brought in to tamp down the turmoil by threatening to end the lives of the protesters with a stroke of his pen. This forced the two groups to take their beef to the streets.

My account has been challenged by local apologists for the DA, and an account written by the editor of the local paper was reprinted in the Christian Science Monitor (an editorial decision I'm sure they wish they could revisit). Later investigations sponsored by defense counsel thoroughly validated my account, a fact that would have surfaced had any of these cases gone to trial.

I should also mention that, in the wake of the massive rally on September 20th 2007, a religious revival swept through the churches of Jena producing a measure of reconciliation between black and white residents. Jena is an overwhelmingly Baptist community and this was a natural way for the community to deal with their deep issues. Some may argue that getting fired up for Jesus isn't an adequate response, but it is an excellent starting point. The revival hasn't received any media attention but it suggests that the folks in Jena are trying to respond to the challenges before them the best way they know how.

BlueDeacon

You may want to see Alan's post above.

BlueDeacon

See Mr. Beam's previous post "The Jena 6 are Free!"

paradoxtor

It will be interesting to see (if anyone covers it), what lessons the Jena 6 learn from this. Will they take this reprieve as an opportunity to move forward in a positive way? Do they have any remorse for what they did or only see themselves as victims. It appears that for some this was part of a history of action while for others it was not. Hopefully, they will go on to lead productive crime-free lives. In these kinds of situations I often wonder if the activists really care about those involved. Others may know, but what kind of support will the six be given now that they are free.

SouthTexasRed

"When the crowds left Jena, the movement quickly ran out of gas."

That was after a well-researched article in Atlantic Monthly (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200801/jena6) revealed that the Jena 6 were a bunch of bullies and troublemakers with a history of arrests. Just a few months later in February 2008, Bryant Purvis, one of the Jena 6, was arrested for assault in Carrollton, Texas, where he had relocated. Turns out he felt it necessary to resolve a disagreement by slamming a kid's head against a bench.

There are racial injustices committed every day in this country that go unreported. It's sad to see Sojourners follow the media pack every time with no independent questioning. The Jena 6 were not latter day Emmett Tills. They were punks.

And therein lies the problem. As Atlantic Monthly reports, there were indeed simmering racial problems in Jena. But when the activist Left, abetted by groups like Sojourners, in a kneejerk way, made the Jena 6 national symbols of American racism, the inconvenient facts ultimately obscured the moral message. To persist that the Jena 6 prosecution was an issue of prejudice or racism discredits your publication and works against the very goals you wish to achieve.

jeffp

Alan,
Just curious, why respond to Blue Deacon above and not to me? So were the Jena 6 charged with simple battery?

Jeff

jeffp

The quote I copied and pasted beg the questions that I asked. I don't know the answers and it seems peculiar that the author didn't mention what the 6 ended up with (could be an oversight). They are reasonable questions.

alanbean

BlueDeacon: If the Jena 6 had been the victims of assault their white attackers would have been charged with simple battery. In other words, we were able to produce equal justice and that's all anyone had the right to ask of the system.

Alan Bean