Miscarriage of Justice

I have searched the Catholic blogosphere the last few weeks looking for a mention of the infamous situation occurring in small town Louisiana. It is possible that I missed the coverage since the situation has been brewing for one year now.

In any case, I feel it is very important to highlight a tragic miscarriage of justice. What am I talking about? The Jena Six. Those not familiar with the Jena 6 may go here for a full background.

We know the Jena 6 did jump a white kid, but the violence began with the nooses and the taunts. To date, not one white student has been charged or punished to the same extent as the African-American students. If I had not visited rural MS in 1997, I don’t think I would believe this type of blatant racism could still exist in this country. But my 1997 visit to Northeastern Mississippi was eye opening to me. At that time, the town’s doctor’s office had finally been desegregated. In 1997! The town’s cemetery was segregated; the white part of the cemetery nicely manicured, normal stones, the black part unkept, no grass, etc.

In any case, the NAACP is pressuring Louisiana’s Governor Blanco to intervene and give a fair trial to the Jena 6. To date, no one has intervened.

I would be interested to hear from the attorneys who read this blog and contribute to the blog to comment.

Edited to add:  I think this website is relevant to the possible free speech, ha ha, noose “joke” that the white kids did against the black kids, especially because of the racial tensions and the historical significance of those nooses.