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| Thousands turned out Thursday in Jena, La., to support six black students who protesters say received overly harsh treatment
in the local criminal-justice system. Alex Brandon/AP |
'Jena 6' case raises questions of bias in U.S. justice
Marchers for the 'Jena 6' cite unequal treatment of blacks. Others say poverty plays as much of a role in any inequity.
By Patrik Jonsson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitorfrom the September 21, 2007 edition
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Atlanta - Witnesses described the schoolyard fight in rural Jena, La., as short but violent, as six black teens beat a white classmate unconscious. Instead of being expelled, five of the six young men – who've become known as the "Jena 6" – were charged with attempted murder.
Although those charges were later reduced for all but one defendant, thousands of protesters flocked to the small town Thursday to march and call attention to what they say is a biased justice system that treats minorities more harshly than it does whites.
There's evidence to back them up. Despite a narrowing of the racial gap in the past decade, the average black juvenile remains far more likely to be arrested and convicted than his white counterpart. But researchers are divided on whether race or other factors, such as poverty, are the driving factor.
With the case inspiring smaller protests elsewhere in the nation, it has become a cause célèbre for everyone from college students to Democratic presidential hopefuls Barack Obama, John Edwards, and Hillary Clinton, who have all weighed in on behalf of the black men.
The issue of biased justice, especially for young African-Americans, has been a longstanding complaint in the African-American community. And while disparities are less blatant than they were in the era of civil rights marches, they can still touch off mass protest, as Thursday's march showed.
The level of bias in the system is a another matter, however.
"Do we have a criminal justice system that mistreats people on the basis of race? No," says Kenneth Nunn, a University of Florida law professor who specializes in issues of race in the courts. "The principle is not the issue, but the practical application [of law] is where you see the problems."
Nationally, black youths are significantly more likely to be tried as adults than are white youths, according to a January report from the National Council on Crime and Delinquency. The same report states that while black youths make up 16 percent of the general adolescent population, they make up 38 percent of the approximately 100,000 youths being held in local and state detention facilities.
The irony, some say, is that mass outpouring of support in cases like the Jena 6 may, in fact, obscure the real issues, where many criminal-defense lawyers can point to examples of prosecutorial zeal when dealing with black defendants.
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