M takes on Jena 6 Developments over at Problem Chylde
Plea bargaining is the state’s most insidious power chip for filling the belly of the prison industrial complex. It embodies the essential difference between talking to the police and snitching – another dynamic that characterizes the criminal justice system as it stands now. The state holds liberty above a potential prisoner’s head because every person values his freedom – plea bargaining allows the person to state his price for standing as close to seeing the outside world as possible. Through the …

I recognized the importance of justice for the Jena Six early on, and wrote about the case frequently. And later when we found out more about Mychal Bell’s past criminal record, I explained that his previous crimes did not negate his right to equal justice in the Jena beating case. After the crescendo of the march demanding equal justice in September, DA Reed Walters’ pathetic rant of a response, the backlash of nooses springing up around the country, and the re-incarceration of Mychal Bell; I like many writers, advocates and …

I’ve been working myself into a knot thinking about the latest proliferation of nooses and the recent regurgitation of racial hatred taking place all over America. Racism is a virus, you know, seemingly impossible to cure completely. It lives in the spine of the American soul as a retrovirus, always waiting for the next trigger, the next opportunity to flare into full blown, incapacitating disease. The September 20th march in Jena was the trigger some white Americans had been waiting for. They cite that peaceful, massive march as an …

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 …

Why am I not surprised that the Louisiana District Attorneys Association is defending Judge Mauffray’s secret hearing and decision to end Mychal Bell’s probation?
…Pete Adams, the director of the Louisiana District Attorneys Association, said Bell’s is a routine case, and “that’s all it is.”
“It’s not being handled any differently than any other case in which there was an offender that was charged and put on probation and then committed another crime,” Adams said. “His probation was revoked, and his pending crimes were considered. Under those circumstances, any other case …

As the facts come in, the situation becomes clear. Judge J.P. Mauffray appears to be using his position on the bench to pursue a personal vendetta against Mychal Bell and perhaps all of us determined to fight for justice for all defendants in the Jena Six case.
Mychal Bell, 17, was unexpectedly sent back to prison on Thursday after going to juvenile court in central Louisiana’s LaSalle Parish for what he expected to be a routine hearing, Carol Powell Lexing, one of his attorneys said.
Instead, state District Judge J.P. Mauffrey Jr. …

UPDATE — Legal experts say Judge’s order may contradict Louisiana laws — READ: ‘Jena 6 teen’s return to jail draws queries’ Howard Witt, Chicago Tribune
I awoke to the news that Mychal Bell, now the most well known defendant in the Jena Six case, was back behind bars, in jail. It appears that because of Bell’s fight with Justin Barker, Bell’s probation on two counts of simple battery and two counts of criminal destruction of property has been terminated and he will serve 18 months in a secured juvenile facility. Unfortunately, …

Once again, The Smoking Gun has the goods, including a videotaped spoof of the attack.
I will write more later. Working on a Flemish keyboard at the moment. My internet connection is down.

This is really ugly. Reed Walters’ racism and ignorance of history glistens like a pus covered carcass in midday desert sun. His reaction to the proud and peaceful demonstration last week?
“I firmly believe that had it not been for the direct intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ last Thursday, a disaster would have happened,” LaSalle Parish District Atty. Reed Walters told a nationally televised press conference.
When a black Jena pastor attending the press conference called it a “shame” that the prosecutor was crediting divine intervention for the orderly behavior of …

The New York Times and other news outlets of record refused to cover the story of nooses, unequal justice, unequal protection under the law and the beating of a high school student until these events sparked a protest so massive that they simply could not ignore it.
Now, the New York Times has given Jena district attorney Reed Walters a global platform to make his case without the slightest challenge. And while on this platform, Walters ignores some very important facts about this situation:
People are learning that the LaSalle Parish School …

Keep in mind, Bell is being denied bail on what will now be a JUVENILE charge. And Bell was convicted on a charge that, according to an appellate court, should never have been brought. He has been in jail since DECEMBER 2006.
JENA — Bail was denied today for Mychal Bell, a defendant in the “Jena Six” case that has drawn national attention, according to Bell’s father.
A CLOSED-COURT bond hearing was held today in the LaSalle Parish Courthouse to determine whether bail would be set for Bell, who has been …

Conyers Announces Forum, Hearings on “Jena Six”
(Washington, DC)- Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) told a crowd gathered on the Capitol grounds that he is holding a forum next week and plans to hold hearings to address the case of six teenagers in Jena, Louisiana who were charged with attempted murder for a schoolyard fight. Conyers spoke during a rally of support for the students, now being called the “Jena Six,” in Washington, in coordination with rallies in Jena and other U.S. cities.
“I want to hold a …

Head on over to UltraVioletUnderground to see many more virtual marchers…check out photos of your favorite bloggers!

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. …

People, our voices count. When we speak tirelessly and in unison, injustice cannot thrive in the dark.
From Howard Witt, Chicago Tribune
With the prospect of a major national civil rights protest looming next week in the central Louisiana town of Jena, a state appeals court on Friday abruptly vacated the felony conviction of a black teenager accused of beating a white student in a case fraught with racial tensions.
Louisiana’s Third Circuit Court of Appeals, acting on an emergency defense appeal, reversed the aggravated second-degree battery conviction of Mychal Bell, …