Jena Hearings, What Was Accomplished

This is from Alan Bean at Friend's of Justice.

Jena Hearing Postscript
October 17th, 2007 at 3:46 pm (Uncategorized)

In the end, what was accomplished? Most committee members aimed their questions at US Attorney Donald Washington, the man who has been consistently unplaying the seriousness of the noose incident since mid-June. Washington initially felt pressured to side with Jena officials in this matter; now, with some pressure coming from opponents of the status quo, the political appointee has adapted his testimony . . . slightly. It is no longer possible for noose apologists to site Mr. Washington as an ally. So far, so good.

Tragically, most of the people interrogating Mr. Washington and his associate, Lisa Krigsten, seem to feel that the noose hangers should have been tried as adults under federal hate crimes law, even if this meant locking them up for ten years without parole (remember, parole has been eliminated from the federal judicial system).

There are two problems: (1) the limp response of Jena officials to the noose incident; and (2) an inept reaction on the part of the Department of Justice that, in the minds of most observers, appeared to validate the inaction of folks like Roy Breithaupt and Reed Walters.

The hearings represent a giant step forward. They would have been more effective, however, if more attention had been paid to the egregious behavior of Reed and Roy. When Mr. Sharpton focuses on the noose boys he lets Jena officials slip into the shadows.

But this is just a matter of emphasis. The significant fact is that hardly anyone, Democrat or Republican, made the slightest attempt to defend the indefensible. The very fact that most Republicans chose to be elsewhere suggests they have no appetite for this fight.

Unfortunately, proponents of a knee-jerk law-and-order, lock-em-up philosophy don’t have to fight–they currently control the public policy agenda. Nonetheless, we congratulate Mr. Conyers for convening an illuminating hearing on a timely topic.

http://friendsofjustice.wordpress.com/2007/10/17/jena-hearing-transcript/#comment-2480

Regarding Jena 6, U.S. Attorney Donald Washington Finally Admits The Hanging of the Noose Was A Hate Crime

In an article by Howard Witt, the writer who broke the Jena Six case nationally; he reports that Washington finally makes this admission in hearings before congress today.



Guess what his porported reasoning for not doing his job and protecting black kids from racial intimidations is according to Witt's writing, "because of the ages of the white youths involved."

Ain't that a bitch!

White kids get off scott free because of their age, but there was no forgoing, or the least bit of measured temperment when it came to prosecuting Michael Bell, Bryant Purvis, Carwin Jones, Theo Shaw, and . I guess no justice for Negroes on either end of the spectrum.

Where are all the annoymous people and others who routinely run here to tell me about how the noose hanging wasn't a hate crime and had nothing to do with the tention's that led to the Barker fight, just because the government says so. The goverment is saying the opposite now.

As I noted in the post The Claimed Facts, Are Not Necessarily the Facts In Jena 6 Case; "in Washington’s case, even though the FBI investigated and recommended the noose hangings be prosecuted as a hate crime; Washington refuses to do so just because the noose hangers don't have a prior record." This is what he said in an interview that aired on CNN on the day of the September 20 march.

The Witt story is here: http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2007/10/us_official_jena_nooses_were_h.html

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee asked the Uncle Tom, foot shuffling, Bush appointee, "Mr. Washington, tell me why you did not intervene? Six broken lives could have been prevented if you had taken action.”



Rep John Conyers summed up the whole issue of this Jena situation saying, “as we all know, it is illegal under the guarantees of our Constitution and our laws to have one standard of justice for white citizens and another harsher one for African- American citizens,”

Apparently, everybody doesn't know that; or, they simply don't care!