Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco responds to the ever growing furor over the Jena Six:

From Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco’s press office:

“I have received hundreds of calls, letters and emails from citizens concerned about the situation involving the case of the high school students in Jena, La. As Governor, as a citizen of the State of Louisiana, and as a mother, without rushing to judgment, I condemn racism in any form, and I fully expect that those involved in this case, including all parties, will act with fairness and in complete good faith.

“I must clear up a widespread misunderstanding of my authority in this case. Our State Constitution provides for three Branches of State Government – Legislative, Executive, and Judicial – and the Constitution prohibits anyone in one branch from exercising the powers of anyone in another branch. This issue is currently a matter in the Judicial System, and should those involved in this case suffer any defects, it is their right to address them in that system through the appeals court.

“Again, the oversight regarding how this case was handled, from arrest to prosecution, lies within the Justice System. Therefore, I have consulted Attorney General Charles Foti and Donald Washington, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, regarding these events in Jena. As a result, General Foti has been and is in consultation with U.S. Attorney Washington and other members of the Justice System. Regardless of the outcome of this case, the Jena community has much healing ahead of it, and I urge all those citizens to come together for the common good of their community and their state. Our children deserve nothing less.”

“I fully expect that those involved in this case, including all parties, will act with fairness and in complete good faith.”

Excuse me? Have you been paying attention, Gov. Blanco?

Part of ‘Jena 6′ conviction dropped; charges reduced

HOUSTON — Ruling in a racially charged case that has drawn scrutiny from national civil rights leaders, a judge in the small central Louisiana town of Jena on Tuesday partially vacated the conviction of a black teenager accused in the beating of a white student while the district attorney reduced attempted murder charges against two other black co-defendants.

Judge J.P. Mauffray threw out a conspiracy conviction against Mychal Bell, granting a defense motion that Bell’s June trial was improperly held in adult court and should instead have been conducted as a juvenile proceeding.

But Mauffray let stand Bell’s conviction on aggravated second-degree battery, for which the 17-year-old faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced Sept. 20. On that date, thousands of demonstrators from across the nation are planning to descend on the town of 3,000 to protest the prosecution of Bell and five other black youths who have come to be called the “Jena 6.”

In the months since the Tribune first reported the Jena story in May, civil rights groups, including the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Congressional Black Caucus, have all criticized what they assert is the uneven application of justice in the mostly white town.

The six black youths were all initially charged with attempted second-degree murder after an incident in December at the local high school in which a white student was attacked and knocked unconscious after an alleged taunt by him.

That altercation capped months of violent racial unrest between blacks and whites throughout the town that was triggered in September 2006, when three white students hung nooses from a shade tree in the high school courtyard in a warning aimed at discouraging blacks from sitting there.

The white youths received brief suspensions after the Jena school superintendent termed the incident an “adolescent prank,” which in turn angered black students and parents who saw the nooses as a hate crime because of the history of lynchings in the Old South.

In the racially tense months that followed the noose incident, other white youths implicated in attacks on blacks were charged with misdemeanors or not at all, while the black youths in the school beating incident were charged with felonies.

[the rest]

They’re starting to feel the pressure.

Ways to get involved:

Friends of Justice

Jena Six Petition from Color of Change

Jena Six Petition

On 20 Sept., the day Mychel Bell is to be sentenced, it is expected that over 2000 members and supporters of Color of Change will show up in Jena, La, to protest. Buy a T-shirt today to help the cause.

Yobachi’s Jena Six Page

[Updated to add] Eddie Griffin’s response to Gov. Blanco.

Office of the Governor
Attn: Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
P.O. Box 94004
Baton Rouge, LA 70804-9004

RE: The Healing of Jena

Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Dear Governor Blanco:

We are encouraged by your recognition of the problem in Jena. Recognizing that there is something terribly wrong in the prosecution of these six African-American youths may be more eye-opening than Hurricane Katrina. It is not something that will simply just blow over.

In your August 30 statement, you assert a condemnation of “racism in any form”. Wonderful! Racism in Louisiana should have disappeared many years ago. But putting your confidence in the hands of all “involved” parties- that they “will act with fairness and in complete good faith”- is not confidence equally shared by the African-American community around the nation nor, indeed, by the rest of the civilized world.

This thing should have never happened. This criminal prosecution should have never gone forward, considering that it was a high school problem grown out of racial tension. On whose side is the State of Louisiana and its public school system?

If justice in the state is as impartial as you alluded to in your statement, then it is the job of the governor to “insure” that everyone is treated fairly before the bar.

We agree with your assessment: The Jena community has much healing ahead of it. But the community cannot heal itself; otherwise, the situation would have never escalated out of hand to begin with.

Maybe the fact that you, at least, recognize the problem seems courageous enough. But Jena needs more than a governor with maternal instincts. Instead of urging “all those citizens to come together for the common good of their community and their state”, maybe you should take charge- not like in the aftermath of Katrina- but true out-front assertive leadership for the “common good of the state”.

When a community as divided as Jena cannot solve its own problems, the governor needs to either send in the National Guards, or get up off her fanny and go to Jena and call a town hall meeting.

Since September 20 is the sentencing date of young Mychal Bell and the date that thousands of people from around the world will converge on the town of Jena, this would be a politically opportune time to show the world what you are made of, as a leader.

Sincerely,
Eddie Griffin
Black Accused Support Group (BASG)