The Louisiana Jena 6 Case -The Socio-Legal Significance of Discretion

The Louisiana Jena 6 Case -The socio-legal significance of discretion

Jena High school in Louisiana is a mostly white school nestled in a small town of 3000 residents. However Jena became the center of controversy after a ‘school yard brawl’ and a heavy handed prosecutor brought protests of severe racial discrimination in the use of law.

The initial dispute in 2006 began over what has been referred to as the ‘white tree’ in the school yard where only white students sat. A black student asked for a received permission to sit under the tree by a school administrator. Shortly thereafter three nooses dangled from the tree. In response, several black students began sitting under the tree leading to scuffles and name calling which resulted in a fight at the school between a group of white and black students. One white teen, Justin Barker, was injured, treated and released that day, purportedly attending a social function that night. His injuries were reported as bruises and a concussion from having been knocked to the ground. However, other reports (from the victim and family) state that his injuries were more extensive, that he had been knocked unconscious, his right eye being was swollen shut and that his jaw had been fractured. He reported that had it not been for another student’s intervention he would have faced more severe injury and even death. He had named the main assailant as Mychal Bell.

The 6 black students involved in the brawl were all charged. When first arrested they were charged with aggravated second degree battery but the prosecutor increased the charges to attempted second degree murder and conspiracy to commit second degree murder. Bonds were set from $70,000 up to $138,000.

The community responded with marching to protest with signs ‘no justice, no peace’. In this small town of 3,000 suddenly thousands came to join with estimates of 20.000 to 40.000 marchers.

While