In Durham, N.C., today, disgraced former District Attorney Mike Nifong reported for a brief (but symbolically important, we're told) 24-hour term behind bars.
In the Duke rape case, Nifong showed how a rogue prosecutor can ruin lives. Now some folks say something similar is unfolding in Jena, La., a small town of about 3,000 in the northeast section of the state.
The case centers around Jena High School and a shade tree in the center of the courtyard.
For years, only white students sat under the tree at lunch. Then, about this time last year, Sept. 1, a black student asked the assistant principal and other faculty members during an assembly if he could sit under the tree and was promptly told to "sit where ever he liked."
The next day the student did, and the day after three hangman's nooses appeared on the tree.
That lit the fuse.
Outraged black students tried to stage peaceful protests, but fights broke out on and off the school grounds.
LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters, asked to speak to a school assembly as part of the effort to defuse the situation, told students to stop making trouble as he could end their lives "with the stroke of a pen."
But tensions boiled over in December, when six black students beat Justin Barker, a white student, who fell during the attack, hit his head and suffered a concussion. Barker was treated and released that day, but the prosecutor in Jena decided to charge the boys who would become known as the "Jena Six" with attempted murder.
So far, only one of the "Jena Six," Mycheal Bell, has been convicted (by an all-white jury, on charges of battery and conspiracy to commit battery). He is to be sentenced on Sept. 20, when he could face a maximum sentence of almost 23 years.
After what happened at Duke, people in Jena and people around the country following the case are asking why would a prosecutor issue a threat like Walters did? Was his comment aimed at black students specifically?
Yes, fights at school are reprehensible, but what purpose could possibly be served by charging these teen-agers with attempted murder?
And if Mike Nifong's questionable and inflammatory statements against the innocent white Duke lacrosse players led to his disbarment, doesn't Mr. Walters owe the defendents, the town and the rest of the country an explanation for his comments?
-- Brian DeBose, national political reporter, The Washington Times
Comments (2)
I fail to see any similarities in either of these two cases. In one case a district attorney pursued false charges against innocent people, in the other, the prosecutor is pursuing harsh charges, but against some thugs that beat the crap out of another human being. In one case, no crime was committed, in the other a crime was most certainly was committed, and while it may be a bit of a stretch to call it "attempted murder," six, count them, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, guys beating up one guy is a little bit more serious than a simple "high school ruckus", it's also more than a simple assault and battery. One guy maybe you could defend yourself against or at least get away from. But how do you defend yourself from 6 guys? And what was the 4th, 5th or 6th guy that jumped in thinking? That their friends needed help?
C'mon.
Posted by John Newman | September 8, 2007 8:39 PM
First of all, why are they thugs? Second of all BEFORE you comment I suggest you go and read the entire case. Yes, he should be disbarred because he's clearly being unethical. How can a tennis shoe be a weapon yet he's been allowed to charge these young men with second degree battery because of a shoe. There's NO evidence who hit him OR how many hit him. Through his own admittance he doesn't know what happened, so how does the attorney. There were 10 students who testified and NONE of there testimonies were consisent. The reason he was even attacked in the first place was because he along with others WHITE students jumped on another black student, where a weapon was used and this SAME attorney charged the young man with "a simple misdemeanor". Why the difference? How is a gun NOT a weapon BUT a tennis shoe is??
Posted by Quin | September 10, 2007 10:31 PM