[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 18]
[House]
[Pages 24580-24581]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                JENA SIX

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentlewoman from California (Ms. Waters) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Ms. WATERS. Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to see that the Third 
Circuit Court of Appeals has tossed out the conviction of aggravated 
battery for 17-year-old Mychal Bell. I can no longer be silent about 
the ongoing struggle for justice for the 6 high school students in 
Jena, Louisiana, known as the Jena Six. These young boys, who were 
arrested after a racially charged school fight and charged with 
attempted murder following a noose hanging incident now face the 
prospect of losing much of their young lives to a tainted criminal 
justice system.
  I have carefully reviewed all of the news accounts of the events 
surrounding this most troubling case. I have talked with the parents, 
and I have talked with the attorneys. I remain convinced that this case 
is a result of long-standing, deep-seated racial divisions in Jena, 
Louisiana.
  It seems unreasonable that on a school campus the administration was 
unaware of the fact that white students had claimed the space under a 
tree and declared it off limits to black students. Even so, once the 
black students asked permission of the administration to sit under the 
tree and were granted permission to sit under the tree, the school 
should have recognized that a problem was brewing. The school should 
have initiated discussions surrounding the residual racial issues that 
existed in order to avoid a confrontation.
  After the black students sat under the tree, it is reported that the 
white students responded by hanging 3 hangman's nooses in a tree. Given 
this country's history of racially motivated violence, specifically 
lynchings, the black students were offended and threatened by the 
physical and emotional message sent by the nooses hanging in the tree. 
It seems unconscionable that this kind of Jim Crow era segregation, 
exclusion and emotional terrorism could be tolerated today.
  There was tension on the campus and several fights took place. In 1 
fight, a black student was beaten and the white student responsible was 
suspended. In another fight, a white student was beaten and the black 
students allegedly responsible were arrested and charged first with 
attempted murder and later charged with aggravated battery. These are 
serious criminal charges.
  Let me be clear. I do not condone physical violence. I believe all of 
the students involved in the alleged fighting incidents should be held 
accountable by school officials. But school-age children all over this 
country get in fights every day and are appropriately disciplined by 
school administrators, whether it is a suspension or some other 
administrative punishment. Appropriate action is taken, and rarely do 
these incidents rise to the level of a criminal act. However, 
regardless of the charges and the unusually harsh approach that was 
taken by the district attorney, 1 young man, Mychal Bell, who is now 
still in jail, should never have been tried as an adult for this 
incident. That is why the Third Circuit Court of Appeals just ruled 
that that conviction must be tossed out and the other students should 
never have been incarcerated for the better part of a year awaiting 
their fate. This injustice cannot be swept under the rug and pacified 
simply by moving the case from the adult court.
  The work here is not done. Along with Mychal Bell, there are 5 other 
students, Robert Bailey, Carwin Jones, Theodore Shaw, Jesse Beard and 
Bryant Ray Purvis, whose lives have been placed on hold awaiting their 
day in court.
  I call on the district attorney to drop all charges against the Jena 
Six. The City of Jena must begin a reconciliation process which begins 
with the apology by and investigation of District Attorney Reed Walters 
for breach of ethics, false imprisonment and civil rights violations. 
His comments and actions have been both rogue and irresponsible and 
clearly demonstrate an agenda that is not in line with peace, justice 
or fairness.
  Young people are traveling to Jena on Thursday led by Howard 
University students. They are coming from all over America to go to 
Jena, Louisiana to show support. These cases stand as the greatest 
civil rights challenges this Nation has faced in the 21st century. I 
will be traveling with them. I will be in Jena with the students. This 
is a new chapter in the civil rights movement led by young people to 
get America to do the right thing and to bring justice to Jena.

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