"Jena Six" rally puts justice system on trial

JENA, La. — Drawn by a case tinged by one of the most-hated symbols of Old South racism — a hangman's noose tied to an oak tree — tens of thousands of protesters rallied Thursday against what they see as a double standard of prosecution.

The plight of the "Jena Six" became a flashpoint for one of the biggest civil-rights demonstrations in years. Five of the black teens were initially charged with attempted murder in the beating of a white classmate. The sixth was booked as a juvenile on sealed charges.

Old-guard civil-rights lions such as the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton joined scores of college students bused in from across the nation who said they wanted to make a stand for racial equality just as their parents did in the 1950s and '60s.

Many participants said they also wanted to make a statement about what they think is unequal treatment blacks receive from the criminal-justice system everywhere.

"There's Jenas in Atlanta, there's Jenas in New York, there's Jenas in Florida and there are Jenas all over Texas," Sharpton told the crowd.

Stephanie Brown, 26, national youth director for the NAACP, agreed, saying, "It's not just about Jena, but about inequalities and disparities around the country."

Despite a narrowing of the racial gap in the past decade, the average black juvenile remains far more likely to be arrested and convicted than a white counterpart. But researchers are divided on whether race or other factors, such as poverty, are the driving factor.

Nationally, black youths are significantly more likely to be tried as adults than are whites, according to a January report from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. The same report states that while black youths make up 16 percent of the general adolescent population, they make up 38 percent of the approximately 100,000 being held in local and state detention facilities.

There has been some improvement for black juveniles. In the late 1980s, they were six times more likely to be arrested for a violent crime than whites, according to a report last year by the U.S. Justice Department. By 2003, they were four times as likely as whites.

The Jena teens' case galvanized demonstrators as few legal cases have in recent years.

The cause of Thursday's demonstrations dates to August 2006, when a black Jena High School student asked at a student assembly whether blacks could sit under a shade tree that was a frequent gathering place for whites. He was told yes. But nooses appeared in the tree the next day.

Three white students were suspended but not criminally prosecuted. LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters said this week he could find no state law covering the act.

The noose incident was followed by fights between blacks and whites, on and off the school's campus, culminating in December's attack on white student Justin Barker, who was knocked unconscious. According to court testimony, his face was swollen and bloodied, but he was able to attend a school function the same night.

Six black teens were arrested. Five were originally charged with attempted second-degree murder; the charges have since been reduced for four of them. Charges are sealed for the sixth, booked as a juvenile.

Martin Luther King III, son of the slain civil-rights leader, said punishment of some sort may be in order for the six defendants, but "the justice system isn't applied the same to all crimes and all people."

Jackson likened the demonstration to the marches on Selma and the Montgomery bus boycott. But even he was not entirely sure why Jena became the focal point.

"You can never quite tell," he said. "Rosa Parks was not the first to sit in the front of the bus. But the sparks hit a dry field."

People began massing for the demonstrations before dawn Thursday, jamming the two-lane highway leading into town. State Police put the crowd at 15,000 to 20,000. Organizers said they believe it drew up to 50,000.

Demonstrators gathered at the local courthouse, a park, and the yard at Jena High where the controversial tree once stood (it was cut down in July). At times, the town resembled a giant festival, with people setting up tables of food and drink and some dancing.

Sharpton told the crowd to remain peaceful, and there were no reports of trouble.

In Washington, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said he would hold hearings on the Jena case, though he did not set a date.

Walters, the district attorney, has usually declined to discuss the case publicly. But on Wednesday, he denied that the charges against the teens were race-related and lamented that Barker, the victim of the beating, has been reduced to "a footnote" while protesters generate sympathy for his alleged attackers.

President Bush said he understood the emotions and the FBI was monitoring the situation. "The events in Louisiana have saddened me," he said at the White House. "All of us in America want there to be, you know, fairness when it comes to justice."

While Jena Six supporters were overwhelmingly black, whites were also present. "I think what happened here was disgusting and repulsive to the whole state," said Mallory Flippo, a white college student from Shreveport.

The demonstration had echoes beyond Jena. Rallies were held across the country in a show of solidarity, including in Detroit, Atlanta and Philadelphia.

In Jena, which is 85 percent white, many white residents expressed anger at the way news organizations portrayed their town of 3,000 people.

"I believe in people standing up for what's right," said resident Ricky Coleman, 46, who is white. "What bothers me is this town being labeled racist. I'm not racist."

Mychal Bell, now 17, is the only one of the defendants who has been tried. He was convicted of aggravated second-degree battery, but his conviction was tossed out last week by a state appeals court that said Bell, who was 16 at the time of the beating, could not be tried as an adult on that charge.

He remained in jail pending an appeal by prosecutors. An appellate court Thursday ordered a hearing to be held within three days on his request for release. The other five defendants are free on bond.

A group of about a dozen white residents and black demonstrators engaged in an animated but not angry exchange during the march. Whites asked blacks if they were aware of Bell's criminal record. Blacks replied that Jena High administrators mishandled the incidents.

Another white resident, Bill Williamson, 59, said he tried to convince visitors that the town was being treated unfairly and that Bell belonged in jail.

"I think we changed one man's mind," he said. "But most of these people don't want to hear."

Material from The Washington Post and The Christian Science Monitor is included in this report.