Jena 6: Cross Burnings = Noose Hangings?
July 15, 2007 by Laura | Trackback URI
Prometheus 6 has a good post with a Clarence Thomas quote from a SCOTUS decision -
The First Amendment permits Virginia to outlaw cross burnings done with the intent to intimidate because burning a cross is a particularly virulent form of intimidation. Instead of prohibiting all intimidating messages, Virginia may choose to regulate this subset of intimidating messages in light of cross burning’s long and pernicious history as a signal of impending violence. A ban on cross burning carried out with the intent to intimidate is fully consistent with this Court’s holding in R. A. V.
Read the whole quote, it’s very interesting, and he links to the FindLaw for VIRGINIA v. BLACK et al. I can’t endorse the beating Justin Barker took. But I can understand it. The consequences being applied to the Jena 6 are far out of proportion to the crime, and diametrically opposed to what whites got for the exact same crime of beating Robert Bailey. This is a no-brainer. DA Reed Walters and the people of Jena/La Salle Parish need an education, and if it takes the federal government to provide it, so be it.
Please contact your Senators and your Representative. Tell them about the Jena 6 and demand that the Justice Department investigate.
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