Jena Six Case Shows Black Teens Get Short End of Stick

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Editor's note: When a Louisiana judge locked up six black teens in the Jena case an investigative team cried foul. On Sept. 14, an appeals court vacated the remaining conviction for second degree battery against one of the accused, saying the charges should have been brought in juvenile court.

Four years before an indifferent, drowsy press and public finally fumed at the news that a prosecutor and judge tossed the book at six black teens in a small Louisiana town for beating up a white teen following a racially charged incident, a Louisiana legislative investigating team sternly warned that the state's juvenile justice system was horribly mangled.

It found that the state couldn't lock up juveniles fast enough for mostly non-violent crimes. The team noted that the sentences slapped on them were wildly out of proportion to their crimes, and that the kids had almost no access to counseling, job and skills training, and family support programs that could ensure that they didn't wind up back in the slammer.

Though alternative sentencing programs are far more cost effective than jailing, they are scarce and under-funded, and Louisiana officials have resisted calls to increase funding and resources to boost these programs.

The investigators also found unsurprisingly that black teens were hit with far stiffer sentences than white teens for the same crimes. It made no difference whether the whites had a prior history of criminal or bad behavior and the black teens were altar boys and had a squeaky clean record. The blacks still got harsher sentences. Countless studies show that a black teen is six times more likely to be tried and sentenced to prison than a young white, even when the crimes are similar, or even less severe than those committed by white teens.

Nationally, blacks make up 40 percent of youths tried in adult courts and nearly 60 percent of those sentenced to state prisons.

In Jena, the prosecutor, mostly because of the public furor over the case, reduced charges against two of the youth. But that's an exception. Prosecutors nearly always push for hard time for offenders. This is infuriatingly apparent in Jena. One of the defendants, a star football player, was convicted on a reduced battery charge. Yet, he still could get a 15-year prison sentence.

The investigators implored the legislature to do something to correct the problem. They came up with a series of reform recommendations. They were largely ignored and four years later, state legislators have shown little inclination to fully enact the juvenile justice reforms.

Louisiana legislators haven't turned a tin ear to screams for reform solely out of ignorance, inertia, or fear of a public backlash. The legislators read and watch the same relentless stream of newspaper and television reports of drive-by shootings, drug shootouts, and gang wars, most of them involving young blacks. This confirms the terrified feeling that many Americans have that young people - especially young black males - are out of control.

They are convinced that teen violence has spawned a new class of youthful "super predators" and that the juvenile justice system is far too easy on them.

The notion that juveniles are running wild though is a myth.

According to recent FBI crime figures, the rates for murder and assault among teenagers have plummeted since 1993, even among black teens.

Yet politicians have overreacted badly to the public panic. In the past decade, more than 30 states have loosened, if not eliminated, laws requiring juveniles be tried and sentenced in juvenile courts.

The criminal justice system's harsh treatment of young blacks, like the Jena teens, fuels the suspicion of many blacks that judges, prosecutors and probation officers bend way over backwards to give young white offenders the benefit of the doubt and are far less willing to label and treat them as dangerous habitual offenders, even when they commit violent crimes.

One study of the attitudes of probation officers toward black and white teen offenders found that they were far more likely to attribute black juvenile crimes to such family or character flaws as chronic disrespect toward authority and to brand them as inherent troublemakers.

They were more likely to blame white bad behavior on conditions outside their control such as hanging out with the wrong crowd, or to troubling family conflicts. Judges and prosecutors read the probation reports and heed their recommendations and if they are favorable, as they are more often than not with young whites, judges are much more inclined to approve alternative sentencing or treatment programs for them. An unfavorable report is just as likely to result in hard time in juvenile or adult jails.

The outrage over the Jena case will probably force town prosecutors to edge away a little more from the harsh charges against the teens, but only a little. They, like prosecutors everywhere, are convinced that black teens are habitual lawbreakers and that the public clamors for them to heave the book at them. And that's exactly what they routinely do in daily courts throughout the country.

It's business as usual for black teen offenders and Jena won't change that. And that's an even bigger tragedy.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new book The Latino Challenge to Black America: Towards a Conversation between African-Americans and Hispanics (Middle Passage Press and Hispanic Economics New York) in English and Spanish will be out in October.

[almaty 19]

i have worked in corrections..and for the parole board...and agree with allot of this

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Teenagers are a problem, shouldn't matter if they're white or black, if they "act up", lock em up with Bubba.

[Jasman0717 9]

Teenagers are a problem, shouldn't matter if they're white or black, if they "act up", lock em up with Bubba.

Bubba

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

LOL Oh yeah we're not supposed to say Bubba anymore. My bad.

[almaty 19]

Teenagers are a problem, shouldn't matter if they're white or black, if they "act up", lock em up with Bubba.

i agree...if the crime fits the punishment..also, there is a bias with the juvenile courts in locking kids up...they rather place them on probation, IF ..they have a structured home environment...id parental supervision is lacking or the parents report that they cannot control the youth..then "shock time" may be used

[Mags 112]

Did you know that the "deadly weapon", that the DA accuses the Jena Six of using, was their tennis sneakers?

I know someone who is actually going down as part of the protest march on Thursday. Good on him, I say.

A couple of other articles regarding this case, if anyone is interested:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...toryId=12353776

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationw...2&cset=true

[almaty 19]

well, it will be getting interesting in Jena today

[GaryC 7]

6 guys beat the ####### out of one guy. Who cares what their respective colors are. The 6 should be punished.

[pedroh 21]

Did you know that the "deadly weapon", that the DA accuses the Jena Six of using, was their tennis sneakers?

I know someone who is actually going down as part of the protest march on Thursday. Good on him, I say.

A couple of other articles regarding this case, if anyone is interested:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.p...toryId=12353776

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationw...2&cset=true

yea i read that! the sneakers were considered a deadly weapon, by an all white jury.. plus, there were several incidents against one of the black kids, and none of the persons who attacked them got charged or anything, that's effed up

At a December party in 2006, mostly attended by white students, 16-year old

Robert Bailey and fout other black students were told by a white woman at the party that

they were not allowed inside without an invitation and asked to leave the property. While

outside the party the black students were involved in a fight with a group of white

men,not students. Police were called to investigate, and several months later charged a

white male, Justin Sloan, with simple battery and put him on probation.

The next day another incident took place at a convenience store involving Bailey and

a white student from the party. The white student approached Bailey and his friends.

Following a heated exchange, the white student ran to his pickup truck and pulled out a

shotgun. Bailey ran after the white student and tussled with him over the weapon. After

Bailey's friends joined in the scuffle, the gun was taken from the white student. Bailey

refuse to return the gun, and was charged with theft of a firearm, second-degree robbery,

and disturbing the peace. The white student who produced the shotgun was not charged.

The following Monday, a white student, Justin Barker, taunted and bragged loudly

about how Robert Bailey had been beaten up by a white man that Friday at the party. As

Baker exited the gymnasium that day, he was met by Bailey and five other black

students. As result of the altercation Barker suffered minor injuries and the six black

students from Jena High School were arrested.

[almaty 19]

it is going to be a black vs. white justice issue and all the national news groups be there.......a media circus

[Heracles 417]

So let me get this straight. People are not protesting against the violence inflicted by the six towards one guy but because they believe they are being unfairly punished..

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

So let me get this straight. People are not protesting against the violence inflicted by the six towards one guy but because they believe they are being unfairly punished..

It would be a slam dunk 'hate crime' if 6 whites beat-up one black.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The investigators also found unsurprisingly that black teens were hit with far stiffer sentences than white teens for the same crimes. It made no difference whether the whites had a prior history of criminal or bad behavior and the black teens were altar boys and had a squeaky clean record. The blacks still got harsher sentences. Countless studies show that a black teen is six times more likely to be tried and sentenced to prison than a young white, even when the crimes are similar, or even less severe than those committed by white teens.

If true - this would be an example of institutional racism at work.

[Ban Hammer 13,678]

So let me get this straight. People are not protesting against the violence inflicted by the six towards one guy but because they believe they are being unfairly punished..

It would be a slam dunk 'hate crime' if 6 whites beat-up one black.

i was waiting for someone to say that