Mychal Bell still sits in jail approaching a week after an appellate court overturned his conviction. The D.A. and Judge chose to ignore his bail hearing on Monday and simply did not show up.

The black teen at the center of a furor over legal racism remained behind bars – though charges against him were thrown out Friday – because the judge and prosecutor didn’t come to a bail hearing yesterday, his lawyer said.

“We showed up. There was nobody there,” said Bob Noel, lawyer for 17-year-old Mychal Bell of Jena, La. “No DA, no judge.”

A woman who answered the phone at District Attorney Reed Walters’ office said he had no bail procedure on his calendar.
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An appeals court on Friday threw out the conviction of Bell, who was charged as an adult with attempted murder last year for punching a white classmate in a schoolyard scuffle. The charges were later reduced to aggravated battery, a charge the appeals court said should have been dealt with in juvenile court.
Noel had filed a motion to have Bell released – or his $90,000 bail reduced – while the prosecutor mulls whether to appeal the overturning of Bell’s conviction. He has two weeks to decide. Town’s DA and judge fail to show for ‘Jena 6′ bail hearing, Helen Kennedy, New York Daily News

But he will not sit alone for long. At this moment, thousands of his fellow Americans from all over the country are getting into cars, boarding buses, planes and trains, alone and in groups heading to Jena, Louisiana to bear witness to the injustice that has been taking place there. No one knows what the visitors will find when they arrive. I wonder if it will be like Fifth Avenue in New York City on the day of the Puerto Rican Pride Parade. On that day a few years ago, many Fifth Avenue residents and building proprietors boarded up their windows and skedaddled out of town in fear of the great brown influx. Nothing happened, Bloomberg chastised and everybody moved on.

The rally in Jena, is being compared to the march to Selma. In that attendees are demanding equal justice for the Jena 6, I see the connection. But in those days, the opponents were more sure and resolute. At least they stood their ground. The judge and D.A. in Jena seem to have engaged hiding as the latest tactic to perpetuate unjust schemes.

For all of us who support equal justice for the Jena Six but who will not make the rally tomorrow, there are other things to do:

Wear black (head to toe) on Thursday. At work, at the gym, on the golf course, in the boardroom, wear all black. If/when you are asked about your sartorial choice, explain that you are standing for equal justice for all and tell them about the plight of the Jena Six.

Join the Virtual Protest going on at Ultravioletunderground. Make a sign “Free the Jena 6″, hold it up, snap a picture, post it. Do that! I will.

Hat tip to Black Amazon for staying on top of this.
Thanks to Gilbert Vallian for the artwork.