As always, Howard Witt of the Chicago Tribune is right on top of the latest news related to the Jena situation. In his coverage of today’s House Judiciary committee hearing looking into the Jena 6 case, Witt reports that US Attorney Donald Washington has finally acknowledged what many legal experts, and bloggers of color, have been saying all along:
“Yes, hanging a noose under these circumstances is a hate crime,” Washington, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, told a House Judiciary Committee hearing convened to examine the Jena …

Megan Williams, the young black woman, who was kidnapped and tortured by at least six white residents of West Virginia, continues to speak out about the crimes perpetrated against her. In a revealing interview given to ‘Final Call,’ Megan Williams and her mother offer a more complete picture of the horror that Megan endured. Megan also details how she found herself in that remote shack and how police came to know of her imprisonment. It is a compelling account. And learning of the person who called the police restores ones …