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[video]http://www.youtube.com/v/4CIJ0DB-e8w[/video]
WASHINGTON -- The controversial Jena Six case moved to Capitol Hill as the House Judiciary Committee asked federal authorities why six black teens were charged last year with attacking a white student at Jena High School in Louisiana.
"Why didn't you intervene?" Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, asked the prosecutor in an emotional outburst. "Broken lives could have been prevented if you had taken the symbolic responsibility that you have as the first African-American appointed to the Western District. I don't know what else to say. I am outraged."
Donald Washington, the U.S. attorney for Louisiana's Western District, responded to her attack.
"I was offended. I was also very offended," he said. "We have a federal scheme of laws that unfortunately I am constrained to."
But many witnesses complained of two standards of justice, saying the black students had been treated much more harshly than white students who hung nooses from a tree in the schoolyard. The white students were suspended but not charged with a crime-a move the Rev. Al Sharpton questioned.
"It seems inconceivable that some young people can be tried as adults and others not tried at all," Sharpton said.
The civil rights activist showed outrage over what he sees as a recent increase in racism.
Nooses have been found across the country-one just last week at Columbia University in New York. Other incidents have been reported in Maryland, Long Island and North Carolina.
"What has been most troubling is the silence of the federal government in the face of this," Sharpton said.
He and other witnesses argued that current hate crime laws are insufficient, saying new ways are needed to reduce racial tensions nationwide.
Committee members also pointed fingers at LaSalle Parish District Attorney Reed Walters for his handling of the case.
A Justice Department official said the agency has received requests to investigate Jena's judicial system and the local district attorney. She said it was premature to say whether there will be an investigation.
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1 year 6 weeks ago
The federal attorneys who testified before the House Judiciary Committee presented a prepared statement that more full explains while no charges were brought against the three students who home the noose: “The concerns that have been expressed about the situation in Jena stem from a number of different incidents, including a noose-hanging at the local high school last year. The FBI investigated the matter in September 2006, and the Criminal Section and the United States Attorney's Office reviewed the FBI's report to determine whether federal criminal charges were appropriate. Although the conduct is deeply disturbing and offensive, the Section declined to pursue charges after learning that the nooses had been hung by juveniles who had been promptly sanctioned by the school. The school Superintendent recently announced publicly that the punishment for the responsible students included: (1) a nine day suspension, during which time they attended an alternative school; (2) an additional two weeks of in-school suspension; (3) several Saturday detentions; (4) an order to attend a discipline court; and (5) a referral to a family counseling program.
"The decision to decline the case was in accordance with long-standing Division policy and principles of federal prosecution of juveniles. As a general matter, federal juvenile prosecutions, which are referred to as delinquency proceedings, are pursued infrequently and only when the Attorney General certifies that certain statutory conditions have been met. When they are pursued, the law mandates that the proceedings, including evidentiary hearings, are not to be open to the public or press. A finding of delinquency in such a juvenile proceeding does not result in a criminal conviction, but rather in an adjudication of delinquency that can not be publicized.”
It doubtful that the Justic Department could have won a case against the three students if it had brought charges. To quote Mychal Massie, chairman of a conservative black think tank, "An extensive criminal investigation concluded there was no racial motivation behind the nooses. They were meant as a prank – the act itself being copied from a scene in a movie. The three offending students were investigated and interviewed by persons at every level of authority. The results of the investigation led everyone to the same conclusion: As hard as it may be for some to believe, the students had no understanding that nooses could be construed as an insult to some blacks. (That being said, I'm reasonably certain the descendents of those who crossed paths with Isaac Charles Parker, aka "The Hanging Judge," and Judge Roy Bean may beg to differ pursuant to who has the pre-eminent right to be offended by nooses.) Every investigator and interviewer, including those from the civil rights division of the U.S. attorney's office, reached the same conclusion. The students did not act out of hatred and were truly remorseful. They had many black friends whom they were sorry to have potentially offended. "
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