Jena Six
September 18, 2007
Rep. Maxine Waters [D-CA]: Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to see that the Third Circuit Court of Appeals has tossed out the conviction of aggravated battery for 17-year-old Mychal Bell. I can no longer be silent about the ongoing struggle for justice for the six high school students in Jena, Louisiana, known as the Jena Six. These young boys, who were arrested after a racially charged school fight and charged with attempted murder following a noose hanging incident now face the prospect of losing much of their young lives to a tainted criminal justice system.
I have carefully reviewed all of the news accounts of the events surrounding this most troubling case. I have talked with the parents, and I have talked with the attorneys. I remain convinced that this case is a result of long-standing, deep-seated racial divisions in Jena, Louisiana.
It seems unreasonable that on a school campus the administration was unaware of the fact that white students had claimed the space under a tree and declared it off limits to black students. Even so, once the black students asked permission of the administration to sit under the tree and were granted permission to sit under the tree, the school should have recognized that a problem was brewing. The school should have initiated discussions surrounding the residual racial issues that existed in order to avoid a confrontation.
After the black students sat under the tree, it is reported that the white students responded by hanging three hangman's nooses in a tree. Given this country's history of racially motivated violence, specifically lynchings, the black students were offended and threatened by the physical and emotional message sent by the nooses hanging in the tree. It seems unconscionable that this kind of Jim Crow era segregation, exclusion and emotional terrorism could be tolerated today.
There was tension on the campus and several fights took place. In one fight, a black student was beaten and the white student responsible was suspended. In another fight, a white student was beaten and the black students allegedly responsible were arrested and charged first with attempted murder and later charged with aggravated battery. These are serious criminal charges.
Let me be clear. I do not condone physical violence. I believe all of the students involved in the alleged fighting incidents should be held accountable by school officials. But school-age children all over this country get in fights every day and are appropriately disciplined by school administrators, whether it is a suspension or some other administrative punishment. Appropriate action is taken, and rarely do these incidents rise to the level of a criminal act. However, regardless of the charges and the unusually harsh approach that was taken by the district attorney, one young man, Mychal Bell, who is now still in jail, should never have been tried as an adult for this incident. That is why the Third Circuit Court of Appeals just ruled that that conviction must be tossed out and the other students should never have been incarcerated for the better part of a year awaiting their fate. This injustice cannot be swept under the rug and pacified simply by moving the case from the adult court.
The work here is not done. Along with Mychal Bell, there are five other students, Robert Bailey, Carwin Jones, Theodore Shaw, Jesse Beard and Bryant Ray Purvis, whose lives have been placed on hold awaiting their day in court.
I call on the district attorney to drop all charges against the Jena Six. The City of Jena must begin a reconciliation process which begins with the apology by and investigation of District Attorney Reed Walters for breach of ethics, false imprisonment and civil rights violations. His comments and actions have been both rogue and irresponsible and clearly demonstrate an agenda that is not in line with peace, justice or fairness.
Young people are traveling to Jena on Thursday led by Howard University students. They are coming from all over America to go to Jena, Louisiana to show support. These cases stand as the greatest civil rights challenges this Nation has faced in the 21st century. I will be traveling with them. I will be in Jena with the students. This is a new chapter in the civil rights movement led by young people to get America to do the right thing and to bring justice to Jena.
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Contact: Mikael Moore
202-225-2201
