The Jena 6 case background below -does it justify an aggravated battery charge?

Six High School students were charged with attempted murder charges that have been reduced to aggravated battery. They are accused of assaulting (including kicking in the head while on the ground) 18-year-old Justin Barker, who left the school in an ambulance with blood coming from his ears, suffering a concussion and multiple bruises, but "was not seriously injured". He was released from the hospital in three hours.

In September of 2006, three nooses are found hanging from the "white tree" at Jena High School the day after a black student asked to sit under the tree. The principal recommends expelling three white students involved but is overruled by the superintendent. The white students get a three-day suspension, and black students organize a sit-in under the tree to protest. In the fall of 2006 the racial tensions mount, and there are a series of fights between black and white students at the high school. In late November, arsonists set fire to the high school's main building. Off-campus, a white youth beats up a black student who shows up at an all-white party. A few days later, a young white man pulls a shotgun on three black students at a convenience store. On Dec. 4, 2006, white Jena High School student Justin Barker, 17, is beaten during a fight with black students and is temporarily knocked unconscious, with cuts and bruises, taken and treated at a local hospital. The six black students -- 17-year-old Robert Bailey Jr., 17-year-old Theo Shaw, 18-year-old Carwin Jones, 17-year-old Bryant Purvis, 16-year-old Mychal Bella - star football player at Jena High (who was 16 years old at the time, and whom a Judge has ruled should have never been tried as an adult for murder and ordered all proceedings against him be handled by juvenile officials), and a 14-year-old boy -- were arrested in connection with the assault. Charges against Jones and Shaw and Bailey Jr. have been reduced to aggravated second-degree battery and conspiracy. There is no link between the nooses hung by white students outside a Louisiana high school and the alleged beating of a white student, per the U.S. attorney.

5 anti-Klan demonstrators are gunned down in cold blood as they marched through Greensborough, NC in 1979. The klansmen responsible for the deaths were acquitted by a jury on grounds of self-defense.
While there was clearly no visible threat during the demonstration, fliers had been distributed by a few of the groups in the march that read: "Death to the Klan." Those fliers were the basis of the self-defense argument and the ALL WHITE jury agreed with it.
Nooses on trees are also a threat with a historical basis in the South with a clear message to blacks: stay in your place OR ELSE.

but I've seen a stomping - and that kills - this was not a stomping.

I was thinking a disorderly conduct misdemeanor with 30 days suspended would send the "moderation" message.

And, yes, what these guys did IS A CRIME. But it's clear that race was a factor in the seriousness of the charges they originally faced. The school system handled it poorly from the get go.

It's painful to contemplate that those days are not as far away as one wishes.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

However consideration should be given to the fact that several of them were minors when this happened. They also are going to need a good defense.

The racial atmosphere at the school, while regrettable, does not justify aggrevated battery. I am not sure what Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson want- all the charges dropped? Can they not see that is not just? Whatever the kid said to these young black men, it did not justify a barbaric beating. I would also take issue with saying a concussion is not a serious injury.

Alot of this could have been avoided if the principles recommendation to expel the three offending students who created the nooses on the tree had been heeded. The tree should have been destroyed immediately as soon as he found out that it was being used as a racial symbol.

Once the guy was knocked unconscious that should have been the end of it. For that, I could see a minor slap on the wrist (probation and temporary suspension from school).

That they continued to assault him once he was on the ground requires criminal charges that carry a stiffer penalty. Admittedly, the initial charges were beyond the pale but the fact that the victim was released from the hospital after only a few hours and had only slight injuries does not minimize the act committed on him.

I have to admit, the cry of "free the Jena Six" has me puzzled. Are the protestors asking that no punishment be applied to six people who administered a beating on someone who was already down on the ground?

There was a racial incident in my highschool back in 1994 in Virginia, a nice highschool, one of the nations best (there was also a huge animal cruelty incident, lots of mice were released and stomped). This kind of stuff can happen anywhere. True, there is alot of it happening in this particular highschool, but people up North has the luxury of going to nearly all-white schools. That's why I'm saying the Jena incident is about racial tensions and poor choices on part of the schools- I don't think that community is any more racist than anywhere else in the US.

Luxury? really that's kind of revealing.

I meant being in a school that is racially homogeneous gives a person the luxury to not have to deal with latent racism in themselves.

I went to a very diverse high school myself, and I felt that experience was a luxury when compared to other friends who went to less racially diverse schools.

... It's just the way Americans are.

black, red, green or purple students...NO ONE should have to worry about racism in their life. Period.

while I agree wholeheartedly that racial tensions happen all over the country, hanging a NOOSE over the limb of a tree is not only an insult, it's a crime and the racial tension in this part of the country---while it may be "pockets" is strong and real.

why should the tree be cut down? That's just plain stupid! The tree is not the source of the racism in that town.

While I don't disagree that there should be some form of punishment for ALL involved, it should have NEVER got this far to begin with and that tells me there are some serious bigots in that town.

You obviously aren't from the south, 'cause if you were, you'd understand the racial tension that simmers from years of brutally. It's time to stop the cycle, that's what we should be talking about.

geographic south. I'm a military brat. I think I haven't lived in the Deep South, unless you count Montgomery, Alabama.

I have to do a bit of a 180. I think Jena, Lousiana is a clear sign that racial relations in the US are poor, and especially people in local government are not "getting" that, and people are in denial (I didn't know David Duke was still popular in Lousiana, I thought he washed out in the 90's?). I think the school district is primarily to blame here because they second-guessed the principle. As long as there in no attempt at racial reconciliation, this stuff is going to continue.

I do think everybody in the US has some level of prejudice, I believe it is innate to a certain extent as long as we identify people belonging to races and ethnicities, and as long as we speak mutually unintelligeble languages. But we are talking specificly in this particular instance about racism/prejudice against blacks, which is rooted in policies-that-became institutions, like institutional racism and slavery, and that can be addressed, and should be addressed. The fact that somebody thought a noose was just a prank shows the level of denial. Freedom of speach is one thing but on school grounds (where students do not necessarily have free speech rights) most schools have policies against racial harassment or threats, a what else would a noose be?

IIRC, the black kid who was assaulted at the all-white party was hit over the head with a glass bottle and that white kid was charged with simple assault.

I think the kicks to the downed, possible already unconscious student are equivalent.

I would think that both constitute aggravated assault, but its too late to recharge the bottle attacker.

Ain't that some shit.

<-----(not this one)

It's in their nature. Why else are they building new prisons everywhere?

The white guys get a few days suspension for a true hate crime, and terror based act. The whites involved deserved to be charged and fully prosecuted under hate crime legislation, yet only got a slap on the wrist.

I also remember hearing of a white guy pulling a gun in Jena on some black kids and getting off pretty much scott free.

Now i do not agree with what the blacks did. They deserve to be punished too. Attempted murder is a bit of a stretch though. I could see a few days in jail followed by counseling, and a good bit of community service.

I feel what the blacks did was a hate crime to. However i do feel they were somewhat incited to this action. You can only poke a dog so long before he bites you. The blacks were the victims and needed justice, but justice kept turning a blind eye on them.

This is one of those cases that makes me ashamed to be white, and southern. Most of us are good folk, but things like this sure draw a light to bad things.

the police then charged the kids with theft of the gun.

There needs to be a major change in the police in Jena - in my opinion of course.

the best you could do is expell the students. If the Klan can be protected under the First Ammendment, why wouldn't a bunch of students making nooses be guilty of a felony hate crime? I'm not saying making a noose is right but at most you might get away charging them with "inciting a riot", though it might not hold up. It would be a slipper slope towards eroding First Ammendment rights, when there are simpler remedies.

I think expulsion or a lengthy suspension would be the best thing, as this has alot of support in precedent (school conduct codes). Schools can make some restrictions on a students behaviors, because they act as parens patriae while children are at school and it is in the schools interest to foster an atmosphere that is not disruptive to education.

Having been the victim of a stomping (while foolishly trying to break up a fight), I can tell you that it absolutely is aggravated assault.

Combine that with the fact that at least one of the six is still on probation from a prior assault he committed against a person, and I think he definitely needs some time out of society.

Attempted murder? No.
Aggravated assault? Yes.

I think the guys should be charged with some type of assault, battery, or assault and battery charge. I think many people are leaving out the fact that the guys did in fact beat up another person until that person was unconscious. I contend that hanging nooses is not as bad a beating someone until they are unconscious. I do not see why people who hung nooses would be arrested. So, I do not see how people would say six kid who beat a person until they were unconscious being arrested and put in jail is unequal justice because kids who hung nooses did not get arrested and put in jail. I think hanging nooses is wrong, but I did not know it was a criminal offense punishable by time in jail.

Yes, some bad things happened, but since those guys beat the kid until he was unconcious it seems like they should be charged with something. I contend the kid who was beaten should get some justice also. Just in case anyone did not understand what I meant when I said the othe kid diserved justice I meant the kids who beat him should be punished.

> (including kicking in the head while on the ground)

In many jurisdictions that is considered lethal force, which could get you attempted murder charges.

The problem is not the charges filed against the black kids. The problem is the lack of charges against the white kids.