Two boys in Oregon have been charged “with multiple counts of felony sexual abuse, banned from school and forbidden any contact with their friends after being accused of swatting the behinds of fellow classmates.”

These are completely ridiculous charges; far in excess of any reasonable punishment. There is possible misconduct on the part of the prosecution - they may be withholding evidence. This is similar, in several key respects, to the Jena 6 (summary of the Jena 6 story at the bottom of this post). The Jena 6 received felony charges for a high school fight, and there were very questionable goings on related to Mychal Bell’s trial.

Two sets of schoolboys engaged in stupid, immature, harmful behavior. Both sets are being charged with felonies that seem ridiculous in light of the magnitude of their crimes; a high school fight and some butts being swatted. Both sets were pressured to cop a plea to avoid a worse fate. It isn’t my intention to make light of the situation the boys in Oregon, Cory Mashburn and Ryan Cornelison, are facing. But it’s worth noting just how much worse the situation is with the Jena 6. Neither case has received much publicity - although I can’t begin to calculate the number of hours the media spent on the Duke Lacrosse non-rape case, much less how many hours or spent on Britney, Lindsey and Paris; three young women who have contributed nothing of lasting value to the world. More air time was spent on the Rutgers/Imus “scandal.” Lives hang in the balance on these cases, and most of the country doesn’t know and doesn’t care. Is the reason why the media doesn’t adequately cover these stories that they lack glamour, or is it that they are so common that they are “dog bites man” stories and consequently not considered newsworthy?

If you’re not familiar with the Jena 6, here is a quick summary:

In Jena, Louisiana, a black student challenged the de facto segregation of his high school by asking permission to sit under the “white tree.” School officials told him to sit where he liked. The next day three nooses hung from the tree, which triggered an impromptu protest by the black students of Jena High. LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters, flanked by the police, informed the black students at an assembly later that day that he could end their lives “with the stroke of a pen.” Racial tensions grew, the school’s academic wing was burned, and Robert Bailey, a black student, was attacked by a group of whites at a party. One person was charged with a misdemeanor for that beating. The next day Bailey and two friends were threatened with a shotgun at a convenience store by Matt Windham, a white man who had been present at the beating. They wrestled the gun away from him and ran to report the incident to the police, who charged them with robbery of the shotgun. Finally at school two days later, a group of white students, including the noose hangers, taunted Bailey and other students, calling them “niggers.” A white student was beaten by a group of black students, taken to the hospital and released within three hours. He attended a school function that night. Six black students were charged with second degree attempted murder for the fight. The first to be tried was Mychal Bell, whose public defender put on no case, called no witnesses, and permitted a friend of the DA, the mother of a prosecution witness, and a good friend of the victim’s mother, to be empaneled on the six person jury. Bell was quickly found guilty. Robert Bailey, Theodore Shaw, Carwin Jones, and Bryant Purvis are still waiting to be tried. The sixth of the Jena Six is in the juvenile justice system.

(Read this Jena Six article for more details or check the Jena Six archives.)

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written by Laura