Jena 6: Linkapalooza

Nearby schools will be closed during Mychal Bell’s sentencing, as 40,000 marchers are expected to descend upon Jena on September 20th. Jena residents are battening down the hatches and preparing for 13 times the amount of Jena’s population to arrive. A PR coup may be had:

We’re rightly concerned about making sure justice is served, but as far as marchers go, no one seems particularly upset. In fact, lots are more worried about the practicalities. And those are worth worrying about. Where, if the Rev. Jesse Jackson gets his 20,000 marchers, will all those cars and buses park? But maybe even more worrisome is where in the world will they all go to the bathroom?

Well now, that may very well be the straw that breaks the backs of those so insistent that all these Jena folks are racists. It’s likely that marchers will see southern hospitality first hand as Jena folks open their doors and their bathrooms to the multitudes. If Jena wants to fight the picture of racial strife that currently colors the town, that’s probably the best way to do so — good old southern hospitality. Post a sign in every yard: “Gotta go? C’mon in, take your shoes off, sit a spell. Ya’ll come back now, ya hear.”

Here’s hoping that the views of “kuntryhick” and “lincoln1″ – members of the Town Talk message board who perpetuate the stereotypes – really are the minority. And “lincoln1″ seems to be under the wacky impression that it was ever safe to walk the streets of New Orleans at night. Newsflash: it wasn’t. Here’s the article they’re all discussing. Useful idiot Jesse Jackson said,

But the key, he said repeatedly, is “reconciliation over retaliation.” Jackson said he would like to see the community come together and hopes one day soon the black and white preachers, black and white students and black and white parents can all “sit in a room with one another and work things out.”

“We simply want the children to be freed,” he said. “… Simply let these boys go.”

Not everybody simply wants the children to be freed. That certainly won’t reconcile anyone to anything. And justice is not the same as retaliation. The beating was a crime, and no provocation excuses it. Most of us just want them to be charged appropriately. Simply setting them free is a recipe for disaster. I believe they should be charged as juveniles with lesser charges – I don’t believe tennis shoes should be considered a deadly weapon, and I seriously doubt there was any conspiracy. There’s been one unsubstantiated report that the attack was planned.

While the “tone” of calling the Jena 6 children can be irritating, they really are children – as are Justin Barker and his noose-hanging friends. If you’re under 18, you’re a minor and classified as a child. This is why I think teenaged girls should not be permitted to make the decision on their own to have a surgical procedure (an abortion) – they’re children. This is why people who call the troops “children” get on my last nerve – they’re adults, legally entitled to sign their enlistment contract. There is a nice bright line between under-18 and over-18 where rights and responsibilities are radically different. The adult status of Mychal Bell, currently the only one of the Jena 6 to be convicted, remains in question:

Since then, his newly appointed defense team has tried pleading with acting Judge J.P. Mauffray, Jr. to overturn some of Bell’s charges. However, Mauffray refused all but one- agreeing that the conspiracy charge be tried in juvenile court. This drops Bell’s jail time to a maximum of 15 years.

And just yesterday, Bell appeared in front of the judge for the hearing of his conspiracy charge. The defense team is unable to comment about juvenile court proceedings, however, they say that at least one of the many filed appeals has been successful.

Attorney, Louis G. Scott, told News Channel 5 that although the sentencing trial date is set for next week, a lot could happen before then. An application was filed to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals requesting that Bell’s battery charge also be sent to juvenile court. He says that if this request is approved, Bell’s adult convictions will be annulled. In addition, the defense is asking for another judge to be appointed to determine whether or not Judge Mauffray should try the sentencing hearing.

Joseph C. Phillips, one of my favorite conservative commentators and author of “He Talk Like A White Boy” weighs in on the Jena 6, and as always, he has a thoughtful and unique perspective.

This case has garnered very little coverage in the mainstream media. Much of the left wing blogsophere is following the case, but it is almost invisible on right wing Internet sites. Which begs the question: Where is the conservative outrage? The shenanigans going on in Jena are counter to everything we preach and everything we say we believe! Political opportunism should not dictate our actions. Broadcasters and commentators should marshal the same righteous indignation they found for Scooter Libby and take the lead in covering the Jena 6 because the fight for justice is supposed to be a hallmark of conservatism. Perhaps we have been slow to the cause because there have been some hints that the character of some of these young men is less than stellar. However the case is not about the character of these youths, but about whether there is integrity in the law and whether LaSalle parish will be made to join the 21st century with the rest of us.

Finally, a serious reality check from Gregory Kane of BlackAmericaWeb.com:
Commentary: The Jena Six Case, Part Two: White Racism Enrages Us More than Our Own Fratricide

… When it comes to mistreating black people, the skin color of the mistreaters makes all the difference with us.

… Over 400 murdered in Philadelphia in 2006 and 215 in Baltimore this year. And let’s not forget who most of the victims are: Young black men, just like the Jena Six.

The case of the Jena Six has inspired some black folks to let out a war whoop as they sally forth to slay yet another dragon of white racism. But those black folks who think that white racism is the only problem we face in 2007, or even the main one, are deluding themselves.

In fact, our obsession with white racism, and with a criminal justice system that we insist is rife with white racism and institutional racism, may contribute to that body count. Here’s how.

I can’t speak for other cities, but in Baltimore our body count gets so high because jurors in this town repeatedly cut loose young black men accused of violent crimes. In Baltimore — Bodymore, Murderland, the criminals call it — the typical homicide victim is a young black man with a criminal record. Homicide suspects have the same profile.

I’ve had people in a position to know tell me that, more frequently than is ever reported, Baltimore jurors have cut loose young black men with lengthy criminal records who have been accused of either murder or another violent crime. It is our insistence that white racism is pervasive and that the criminal justice system is rife with racism that may inspire some jurors to send these young black men back out on the streets, where they commit more murders.

… That body count of young black men murdered should outrage us every bit as much as what’s happened to the Jena Six. A young black man murdering another young black man and then walking out of court scot-free is just as much an injustice as six young black men being railroaded by the Louisiana criminal justice system.