Oct.3 at 11:07 am

Ron says:
It’s nice to see people in the sports world take a political stand that many in politics are scared to take.

Oct.3 at 11:08 am

Holly MacKenzie says:
Nice, Lang. This modern day tragedy has been pulling at my heart since I first heard about it. So nice to see people of the sports world stepping up collectively and demanding a re-evaluation of the injustice that is so blatantly trying to be passed off as the law.

Oct.3 at 11:28 am

Cheryl says:
Quick question: Is Jocks for Justice a non-profit? I vaguely remember Zirin speaking about a non-profit that did good work and I’m always looking for organizations that I believe in to donate money. I am secretly a philanthropist. (that’s not a joke)

Oct.3 at 11:33 am

Hi! says:
Gavin
Student
Former Basketball Player

Oct.3 at 11:43 am

H to the izzo says:
Cheryl:I’m a non-profit,all donations are welcome.

Oct.3 at 11:54 am

white hot eboy says:
Izzo, you are also non-sensical.

Oct.3 at 1:19 pm

Rubens says:
ron said it all… btw how’s ethan anyways?

Oct.3 at 1:19 pm

d.Y. says:
thanks for the contributions. of course, it would have been nice if these folk and others (cough cough rev sharpton) got involved in the case sooner, rather than after it was forced into the media spotlight by hundreds of thousands of average citizens. mad props to jemele hill, who wrote about this forever ago.

Oct.3 at 1:27 pm

Blair says:
The Justic Department investigated the noose-handing incident and determined that it did not fall within the parameters of a hate crime. In other words, the three students who hung the nooses committed no chargeable offense. Following the beating incident, the Justice Department reopened its investigation and determined there was no link between the noose-hanging incident and the attack on Justin Barker at Jena High School. U.S. Attorney Donald Washington told CNN that, “A lot of things happened between the noose hanging and the fight occurring, and we have arrived at the conclusion that the fight itself had no connection.” He added that none of the black students involved in the beating made “any mention of nooses, of trees, of the ‘N’ word or any other word of racial hate.” According to CNN, federal official also examined the way the school handled the infractions and whether black students were being treated differently than white students. Washington told CNN that they discovered “it was not unusual for the school superintendent to reinstate students after the principal recommends expelling them.” Washington also told CNN that the 16-year-old defendant, Mychal Bell, has “several previous assault charges on his record.” The CNN story (”U.S. Attorney: Nooses, Beating at Jen High Not Related”) is online at http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/09/19/jena.six.link/index.html In other words, the Justice Department has “cleared” the victim of the beating incident. The students who beat Justin Barker at Jena High now face charges of aggravated battery. Any one or a combination of three circumstances elevate charges of simple battery to aggravate battery: (1) a deadly weapon is used, (2) serious bodily injury is inflicted, and (3) the victim is vulnerable, defenseless or helpless. At trial, the prosecution will likley argue that Barker suffered serious injuries. (It’s true that Barker attended a senior ring ceremony after his release from the hospital, but friends say he left half through because he was in pain.) The prosecution will called the doctors who treated Barker for three hours to the witness stand. In some cases, juries have found that the mere fact that the victim required medical attentions constituted aggravated assault. If you hit someone and bloody his noses, you would probably be charged with simple battery, if you break his nose and put him in the hospital, you might be charged with aggravated battery. But the prosecution case doesn’t totally rely on the extent of Barker’s injuries. Witnesses will testify that the Jena Six continued to kick and beat Bailey after he lay helpless and unconscious on the ground. In their statements to police, wittnesses said that the black students continued to kick Barker in the head, bang his head against the concrete and stomp on his face after he was unconscious. To date, only one person, a 22-year-old white male, has been sentenced in any of the Jena Six incidence. The white male hit Robert Bailey, one of the Jena Six, at a private party. Other people quickly broke up the fight and Bailey did not require medical treatment. The white male was arrested and charged with simple battery. He pled guilty and was released on parole because it was his first offense. The students who beat Justin Baker are charged with aggravated battery rather than simple battery because of the viciousness of the attack. They also are charged with conspiracy because the attack was obviously coordinated. Members of the Jena Six who have no previosuly offenses will have a shot at parole. However, Mychal Bailey was already on parole at the time of the beating. Since he will be retried in juvenile courts, his will likely get a lighter sentence, if convicted. The four members of the Jena Six who were over 17 at the time of the beating will likley face heavier sentences if convicted.

Oct.3 at 2:26 pm

nic says:
i might be stepping out on a limb here, but i would be curious to hear peoples opinions on what these kids should be charged with. let us take it as fact that the other kids who hung the nooses should have been charged with a hate crime, and that there is horrible, obvious, incredible racism at play in that judicial system. but there were 6 kids beating on 1 kid, right? i think theres a crime in there, somewhere.

Oct.3 at 2:56 pm

jbn74sb says:
Jasen B. Nielsen. Esq.
Son of member of 3 UCLA National Championsip teams.
232 pound shooting guard with 30′ range.
Attorney.

Oct.3 at 3:19 pm

white hot eboy says:
How the fu*k did you lose 8 lbs in a week, lying fat-ass? Plus you put yourself out like THAT? That’s a little dramatic Bodie. You should have at least abbreviated your last name.

Oct.3 at 3:56 pm

SLAM ONLINE | » Links: The New Official Player Of The Links says:
[…] • It’s on the homepage, but today we posted this statement of solidarity with the Jena 6. A bunch of people from the sports world, from Joakim Noah to Scott Fujita to Dr. John Carlos were willing to lend their names to this cause. SLAM columnist Dave Zirin initially contacted me about a week ago, and I told him we’d love to post it on SLAMonline. Not much else to say about it — I think it speaks for itself. […]

Oct.3 at 4:09 pm

Toby Bailey says:
OR MAYBE IT DOESN’T TAKE 6 DUDES TO FIGHT ONE PERSON!!! WHAT A BUNCH OF COWARDS. “Hey let’s all take off work in the middle of the week and go march in Jena, Al. cause we have nothing else to do. Awesome.”

Oct.3 at 4:13 pm

jbn74sb says:
Why eboy? I’ve got nothing to hide here.
And I didn’t lose the 8 pounds in a week, Ant. I had been playing hoops about 4 times a week, and not lifting, so I hadn’t been to the gym to weigh myself in about a month.
BTW - I got up to 269 in the 3rd year of law school. Yikes. I will get down to 210.

Oct.3 at 4:17 pm

white hot eboy says:
I’m just saying, you never know who can use your name and pull your bar number and fraud you out. I’m just a tad more apprehensive. That’s all.

Oct.3 at 4:29 pm

jbn74sb says:
I suppose you’re right. Thanks for giving them that idea. Dick.

Oct.3 at 4:30 pm

white hot eboy says:
And I don’t mean our regular guys here, anyone can view these boards. Anyways, I have one of my collegues down here have that happen to with an intercepted e-mail that was supposed to reach a judge. It turned into a BIG hassle.

Oct.3 at 4:37 pm

jbn74sb says:
If something comes back to bite me, I will apply one of the many lessons I learned at the John Wooden camps, the Jim Harrick camps, and the Jamaal Wilkes camps I went to as a youngster: Deny Deny Deny.

Oct.3 at 5:21 pm

nic says:
no one other than toby? i was really hoping to hear from some of the signers of the petition…

Oct.3 at 5:31 pm

Myles Brown says:
Nic, the comments section on this site are strictly for things other than the actual post, but I’ll break protocol for you. Of course the kids should be charged with a crime, but to try them as adults on trumped up charges is the issue at hand. I’m no prosecutor, but it seems as though a garden variety school yard fight warrants nothing more than assault.

Oct.3 at 5:48 pm

nic says:
me feelin ya, myles. about all of it. its ridiculous to try these kids as adults for anything, but i also think its ridiculous to charge them with nothing at all. and its kind of sad for the civil rights movement that this is the best we can do for heroes these days…

Oct.3 at 7:09 pm

Blair says:
Four of the Jenna Six were over 17 at the time of the beating at Jena High School, so trying them as juveniles is not an option; they have to be tried in adult criminal court. Mychal Bell was 16 at the time of the incident. The prosecutor’s office tried him as an adult because they believed he institaged the attack and because of his prior convictions. The appellate court threw out the conviction, saying he should not have been tried as an adult. He will be retried in juvenile court. The other member of the Jena Six was only 14. It’s unlikely he will be charged or go to trial The Jena Six will not be charged with a hate crime because Lousiana has no hate crime laws. Aggravated assault seems the proper charge, but the Jena Six should work to have the charges reduced to battery.

Oct.3 at 7:19 pm

drogo says:
dan
streetball player
romania

Oct.3 at 9:31 pm

Jukai says:
This is BS. These guys committed a crime. They should not go unpunished, irregardless of the circumstances. I will not sign this list.

Oct.3 at 9:36 pm

Jukai says:
Etan, I loved your first post when you focused on the irony of the judicial system. But these guys committed battery and assault, most of them as ADULTS. This wasn’t a schoolyard fight. I’m not saying the original white dude who beat up Bell doesn’t deserve some charges and the nooses don’t deserve hate crime charges… but saying their cases deserve to be dropped is the exact reverse of what we should be focusing on. What if six white kids jumped and began kicking the face and groin repetatively of one black kid… Would people be so quick to drop the charges? Note, the scenerio is after the noose hanging and school fights. This movement just sounds like getting even.

Oct.3 at 10:10 pm

Winslowalrob says:
It should also be noted that the all-white jury thing was not because of some grand racist plan: summons were sent out to many a black person in the Jena community, but none of them showed up.

Oct.4 at 11:41 am

Blair says:
Perhaps athletes and coaches might be incline to support the Jena Six because they view the gang-beating of Justin Barker as a team sport, sort of like gang tackling in football.

Oct.5 at 9:17 am

stan maron says:
Hanging nooses from a tree should certainly be considered a hate crime because of what they represent to the African/American people. It is hard for a non black to understand the seriousness of this symbol. Having said that I say— the judge should dismiss the case and call it a wash and lets start a new day of peace and understanding for all.
stan Maron
Amherst Ma

Oct.5 at 10:44 am

will says:
Jukai, you said: “This is BS. These guys committed a crime. They should not go unpunished, irregardless of the circumstances. I will not sign this list.”
and
“saying their cases deserve to be dropped is the exact reverse of what we should be focusing on.” First of all, your decision not to sign the list is your own, and no one should begrudge you that, necessarily. But your logical leap here is problematic, and I fear far too many people are simply re-hashing reactionary talk radio soundbytes without thinking critically enough about this situation. Though many pundits who have rushed to the defense of the Jena 6, calling for all charges to be dropped, Zirin has not done that here. He has called for the “ridiculously punitive charges to be dropped.” In other words, 6 men jumping another man, from the evidence we have, was not and should never have been considered attempted murder. That charge should have been dropped and replaced with an appropriate charge. This case, as do all, merits an appropriate charge for the crime committed. I would also ask you to consider thinking about the other injustices done here. The students that hung the noose should have been expelled and they were not. There is overwhelming precedent for this action being taken across the country, and that it was not taken in Jena tells you something about their inept public school board officials, as does their DA’s actions tell you about his virulent racism and idiocy. You are certainly entitled to your opinion, and I give it merit, but dont write off Zirin’s comments as they appear to be more balanced and measured than much of the rhetoric from many social pundits. “You do the time, you do the crime” cannot be the adage of choice here, because it appears that many people in Jena have committed criminal, unethical, and immoral acts and all but 6 of those people, currently, are going unpunished.

Oct.6 at 2:15 am

zzmobar says:
I found out the DA, Reed Walters is a registered Democrat. That is a very interesting fact. Not too long ago, we had another Left wing group, “PETA” excessively condemning Mike Vick. My observation is the political left will use guys like Jesse, Al and Etan to promote their causes. All the while blaming Republicans for all things racist. When the dust settles and the smoke clears, it is ironic that the biggest race problems in America are coming from deep within the DEMOCRATIC PARTY. Yet Etan is out there plugging for them constantly. Go figure.

Oct.8 at 6:36 pm

Michael Tillery says:
Thanks for posting this Lang. I’m honored to be included. The attention this case has receive has made a difference.

Oct.11 at 2:11 pm

Gina Lee says:
Dear Jocks 4 Justice, I am a friend of Hal Perry, who was part of the USF Dons Basketball team, 1955-56, NCAA Champs. He wishes to sign the Jocks 4 Justice statement in support of the Jena 6 and I have sent his info to Bob Osborne from Slam. If there is another way for him to get listed, please let me know. Mr. Perry is part of the Engage committee to Project and Protect the Voice of Bob Avakian. We are going to publish the statement, “Dangerous times demand courageous voices. Bob Avakian is such a voice.” I encourage you to check out this statement and consider adding your name to it. The deadline for new names is Sunday, Oct. 14th. Hal Perry wrote the following statement about Bob Avakian’s talk on the NBA, which you can download at www.bobavakian.net or if you would like a CD copy, let me know how to reach you and I’ll send it to you. I also thought you might be interested in a short 7 minute film called, Next Stop, Revolution (check out our website www.engagewithbobavakian.org on the homepage.) It’s about Black and Latino youth on the streets of L.A. and their exuberance about the question of Revolution and Bob Avakian. Gina Lee Hal Perry on listening to the NBA talk by Bob Avakian: “That’s right, he’s good, that’s fantastic, ooh boy, that’s a powerful
statement,” these were some of the things I said while listening to the talk
by Bob Avakian, “The NBA - Marketing the Minstrel Show and Serving the
Big Gangsters.” I really appreciated hearing this talk. Everything he’s
saying about sports, I lived through it. While listening to Part 1 of the talk, I couldn’t believe how deeply and
accurately Bob Avakian described everything. Anyone who listens to this
talk is put in abetter position to understand what really went on. It’s
unbelievable how it describes what happened to Black players. It is so
excellent and incredible, I can’t begin to express everything I think about it and I need to listen to it again. If you took a group of high school kids and had them sit down and listen to this, they’d never be the same again. There’s so many aspects of what the talk takes up that need to be
exposed. People have no idea what Black athletes have gone through. I
went through similar experiences in breaking the color barrier. In high
school I was involved in track, basketball and football and when I became a quarterback, this Went up against the views of many who didn’t think Blacks had the intelligence to be a quarterback. I played on an all-white team against other all white teams where the opposing players tried to
knock me out then kneed and kicked me when I was down. My brother,
who was a very good football player, could have become a pro player in
Baltimore, but he could not get hired as a quarterback. It just was not done
in those days. When I got into college basketball, there were very few
Black players. I was one of the first Black starters on my college team. Go
see the movie “Glory Road” to understand what it was like.
From the talk I learned for the first time that there was a conscious shift of
moving the NBA stadiums to the suburbs out of the inner cities where more
Black people live. This is going on now in moving the S.F. 49’ers to the
S.F. suburban Peninsula area and the Oakland A’s to Fremont, another
suburb. It describes the treatment Hank Aaron got when he was about to pass up
Babe Ruth’s home run record. I have talked to Hank Aaron about what he
went through. There was one game where someone jumped out of the
stands and tried to shoot him. Avakian refers to the big controversy in
sports about putting an asterisk after Barry Bonds’ name once he
surpasses Aaron’s record. I really agree with Avakian’ s insight that there should be asterisks put next to the names of all players during the years that Black people were forbidden to play in the major leagues. I am very pleased that Bob Avakian spoke to the Barry Bonds’ controversy.
I couldn’t believe how deep his views were in examining Bonds’ story in the
context of the history of the exclusion of Black people from baseball. I know enough about athletes that I know some are using drugs, yet it is Bonds who is getting vilified, while others admitted to using supplements, even though it was during a time that use of such supplements weren’t
illegal, but it’s Bonds who has faced such wrath. I think they want to
embarrass Bonds because he is outspoken. Avakian’s take on Barry
Bonds is a very different perspective than what is being heard. He made a good point in the story about Julius Irving where Larry Bird
started a fight with Irving, yet the media manipulated what was shown on
t.v. so Julius Irving was portrayed as the one who started the fight. This
thing of changing the story is done all the time. A similar thing happened
with the Joe Louis - Max Schmeling fight. I also agree that Larry Bird was built up as the “Great White Hope” when many Black players were as
good, if not better. Blacks were excluded from sports for years. They weren’t allowed in the
Industrial League and the story of Don Barksdale (one of the first Black
players in the NBA) is an example of that. I played with the Harlem
Globetrotters in one of their last series and I agree that the Globetrotters were very good as serious basketball players. The existence of the Globetrotters was influenced by the lack of Blacks in pro-basketball. In my experience as a basketball player, Avakian makes a good point that there’s a need for leadership and coaching. I don’t agree with Bobby
Knight’s approach that the players don’t know anything about the game
and I think the players can understand more than the coach. I highly
recommend that people listen to this talk and spread the word about it. Hal Perry, USF Dons Basketball Team, NCAA champions in 1955
and 1956