"The Jena Six"

[mr.jaynes]

quote:Originally posted by tim huntzinger

Janyes, it is all of that.  Let us talk locally, though, about racial injustice.  When a Jenks child killed his friend after conducting a high-speed paintball game on the turnpike he was sentenced to a one-month house time-out.  When a 14-year-old girl was joy-riding and killed a neighbor she was charged with FIRST DEGREE MURDER.

Wanna guess the races?

I find it hard to make an argument for this being an injustice. Regardless of the racial identities of those involved, a crime was committed, and those charged must go through the legal process like anyone else. Were we to use this particular rationale, we may as well say that OJ Simpson (for example) should never be charged with a crime because his particular racial identity absolves him of any possible charges brought against him.

As for this Shawn Howard matter, I've done my research on the matter on this site and throughout the internet-and curiously enough, I also have friends back in Oklahoma who actually knew him (I'm always in touch with the home team, dontcha know).



I'm not going to defend his killer, Badgewell. Evenso, I won't defend Howard either. Howard walked around with brass knucks, and was looking to use them, either in self-defense or otherwise. If someone walked up to me with brass knucks, you'd better believe that I'd be on the defensive, and if that someone was looking to take the first punch without prior provocation, I'm going to fight back.

And incidentally, while Badgewell was no saint, neither was Howard, by many accounts.

[cannon_fodder]

quote:Originally posted by tim huntzinger
You damn right I wear black for the Jena Six.

What great injustice was bestowed upon them?  They jumped another kid 6 v. 1 for no reason but the color of his skin, beat him unconscious, and then stomped on his head.  I don't care what group was the victim and which was the perpetrator, one could justify attempted murder charges (though I doubt the conviction on such).

Again, I don't care what color you are; 3 battery complaints while in high school strongly indicates your entire life will be a write off.

[Conan71]

I've not read a whole lot on this.  What happened did Rev. Jacka$$ and Rev. $harpton get involved[?]

[cannon_fodder]

Of course, see post #1 for some Sharpton misstatements.

[tim huntzinger]

Holding a kid for eight months on an assualt charge is kind of harsh.  Heck, in Tulsa we let psychopathic killers walk the streets days after the incident.  We let dudes who pull out guns and blast unarmed Tulsans point-blank walk.

At heart is the attempted murder of a kid who was so gravely wounded he was able to attend a school function later that night.  The Jena DA is (IMO) mentally ill, a racist with religious delusions.  He says now: 'But he further infuriated black leaders when he said during a press conference that the only reason last week's protest did not devolve into violence was because of divine intervention.

"I firmly believe, and I'm confident of the fact that had it not been for the direct intervention of the Lord Jesus Christ last Thursday, a disaster would have happened," district attorney Reed Walters said.

DA's with religious delusions . . . hmmmm, that does sound familiar.

[jamesrage]

Sharpton and Jackson are nothing but race parasites/media whores who feed off the color of their own skin.The only thing they are doing is making people numb to any accusations of racism.Its like the boy who cried wolf,you cry racism too many times when there is none and people will potential ignore legitimate claims of racism.

[cannon_fodder]

Tim:

1) It was Battery.  Assault is the fear of eminent bodily harm... battery is physical contact.  Stupid TV shows and movies always get that simple point wrong.

2) Attempted murder has nothing to do with the injury inflicted.  If someone shoots at you and misses - it can be attempted murder in spite of there being no injury.  The justification for the charge was the continued beating by 6 other people after the victim was unconscious.

The best argument for racial injustice in this case would be to compare these boys treatment to other similar incidents.  Not to look at this incident intrinsically (you can not tell if they were treated more harshly by looking at how they were treated alone).  I have no information that the charges against them in this instance were any greater than would have been levied against 6 white kids for beating up a black kid (except the white kids would be charged with a hate crime in addition to attempted murder per federal law).

If 6 white kids beat some black kid in similar circumstances I would cry foul if their charges were not the same.  Justice needs to be blind to race.  I simply see no true gripe in this instance as no evidence has been put forth of a differential in treatment in similar circumstances.