Judge in Jena 6 Case Closes Records

A week after one of the so-called Jena Six defendants pleaded guilty to second-degree battery in the beating of a white schoolmate, the judge in the case said the records will remain closed, pending an appeal.

Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. will appeal to the state 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal an order that opened the hearing and records in Mychal Bell's case.

"In the interim, we have advised the clerk and his staff that the judgment is not yet final, and that they should not permit access to the record in the two Mychal Bell proceedings, nor any other juvenile proceeding," Donald R. Wilson, Mauffray's attorney, wrote on Thursday.

State District Judge Thomas Yeager's order to open all proceedings and records concerning Bell is not yet final, said Dan Zimmerman, who represents The Associated Press and 24 other media organizations that sued.

"There's not much we can do at this minute," Zimmerman said. "We'll just have to wait until it gets to the appeals court."

Bell, 17, was sentenced to 18 months in a juvenile facility on Dec. 3. He was given credit for the 10 months he had already served.

Bell was charged with taking part in an attack last December on Justin Barker, a white student at Jena High School. Barker spent several hours in the emergency room after the attack, but was discharged and attended a school event later in the day.

Barker and his parents filed a civil suit this week against the LaSalle Parish School Board, the parents of the young men accused of beating him, and the adult members of the Jena Six.

Bell originally was charged as an adult with attempted murder. That charge was reduced before a jury convicted him in June of aggravated second-degree battery. In September that verdict was thrown out and Bell was ordered tried as a juvenile.

The charges against Bell and five others — the so-called Jena Six — sparked a huge civil-rights demonstration in Jena in September.

The activists said prosecutors treated blacks more harshly than whites, and pointed to an incident three months before the attack on Barker in which three other white teens were accused of hanging nooses from a tree at the high school. The three were suspended from school but never criminally charged; LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters has said there was no state crime to charge them with.

The AP and other news organizations went to court seeking permission to attend hearings in Bell's case, and to review transcripts of previous hearings and other court records in the central Louisiana case.

By MARY FOSTER – Dec 7, 2007 NEW ORLEANS (AP) —

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This case is considered controversial for a couple of reasons. According to previous news sources, the incident began when a group of black youths asked their principal if they were allowed to sit under a certain tree outside their school that had always been considered a “white only” area. The principal told them they could, and the students began sitting under the tree. The black students’ protest of the “white tree” led other students to hang three nooses under the tree – in obvious reference to the days when thousands of black men and women were “lynched” or hung for not obeying unwritten racial rules.

Parents called for the expulsion of the white students involved, but the school decided that they should be suspended for three days each.

This racially charged incident eventually culminated in six black youths (the Jena Six) attacking and beating a white student. The white student was treated for injuries and a possible concussion and was released. He was well enough to attend a school function that evening.

The Jena Six were arrested and initially charged with attempted murder. This brought national and International attention to the case and prompted hip-hop artists to hold concerts to raise money for the legal fees. David Bowie donated $10,000 to the cause.

Do you think that original charge of attempted murder was evidence that whites and blacks are treated unfairly in the US legal system?

Do you think that hanging nooses should be protected under the bill of rights freedom of speech and expression?

Do you think that threatening racially charged incidents should be tried differently as “hate crimes”?

There has been a rash of “noose” incidents in the wake of this case all over the country. Do you think that there should be laws against “hate speech” in the form of words or symbols such as nooses and swastikas?

REMEMBER TO BE RESPECTFUL – AT SEEdebate, we respect your right to free speech, but we will not tolerate racist or hate speech on our site.
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