Jena 6 Defendant Mychal Bell Still Jailed

On December 4, 2006, six black teenagers were arrested for the brutal attack of a white teenager. In the quiet town of Jena, Louisiana, Jesse Ray Beard (14-years-old), Robert Bailey (17), Mychal Bell (16), Carwin Jones (18), Bryant Purvis (17) and Theo Shaw (17) participated in the beating of Justin Barker (17). The six black teenagers were subsequently charged with attempted murder in the second-degree and conspiracy to commit murder in the second-degree. Dubbed as the Jena 6, these students were involved with one of many racially-charged incidents that had been occurring in Jena. Although prior incidents never resulted in legal action as long as the assailant was white, the police did not hesitate to intervene once they realized that black people were committing violent crimes. In response to the Jena 6 case, people across the nation have become enraged by the prevalence of racial discrimination in our legal system.

Initially, five out of six of the accused black students were to be tried in the adult judicial system. (The juvenile court system handled the case of Beard, the youngest defendant.) Eventually, the charges were diminished to second-degree aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit second-degree battery. Currently, Bell is the only student remaining in prison; his bail is set at $90,000. The judge refused to lower the bond on the grounds that Bell had a history of criminal activity. Bell's record included four juvenile offenses; two of these offenses involved battery charges. The bonds of the remaining Jena 6 were also set at outrageous amounts, ranging from $70,000 to $138,000. Bailey, Jones and Shaw were released from prison once their families collected enough money to post bail. The status of Beard's case is unknown because the juvenile court system does not allow the public into its courtrooms.