Because of this situation, older juveniles are in many cases tried as adults for serious crimes. But it seems to me that within the Juvenile Justice system maximum penalties should increase rather than decrease with age. Maybe the age of the defendant at the time of the crime could be the maximum. Then a boy one day under 17 could be sentenced to one day under 17 years.

Peter, before Justin Barker was beat up he was teasing a black kid who was previously jumped and brutally beaten up by 6 or 7 white youths with bottles!

Only 1 of the white persons who beat him up was arrested, he was charged with simple assault and released on probation and made to apologize. No attempted murder, no aggravated assault
(even though bottles were used and the defendant is 21 years old beating on a 16 year old with the help of 6 friends.

How fair is that?

The media is so biased and one-sided it is pathetic. The double standard against white people in our nation is appalling, yet no one seems to realize it, and the ones that do are fired or persecuted and called out as "racists"

Oh and by the way, the nooses were painted the school colors, Black and Gold.

It was a racial event. Not only that, thousands of Whites and Asians were lynched in the United States. Why do blacks think they "own" the lynching history? Sorry! Blacks cannot co-opt the term noose nor lynching.

Propably not.

Has CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX or MSNBC ever covered a racially motivated attack on a white Gentile.

Probably not.

Yet, they will obsessively report on any racially motivated crime committed against a nonwhite or a Jew.

So, if the Jena case was reversed and the "victims" of racism were white Gentiles, we would not even know about it.

Explain to me how shouting "Black power" is any different from those that spew "white power?" Those involved with uttering those words are no different from the KKK.

Obviously, racism isn't limited to caucasians, is it?

Justified? I think not. Two wrongs don't make a right.

The nooses were wrong and those kids were punished at the time an appropriate punishment. The school principle even wanted them expelled! It is not like their actions were just ignored and they even gave appologies. No one was PHYSICALLY harmed in the incident.

The other 6 boys chose to take to violence and some of which appearantly have had run in's with the law in the past.

Two wrongs do not make a right! Those 6 should be punished according to the law just as the other boys were punished according to the LAW!

One thing that is most upsetting is that many people protesting haven't even bothered to research the entire problem. I have heard comments made that the boy beaten attended prom the next night – reality he was hospitalized for his injuries and hello since when was prom held in December? Additionally, I have heard stories that after the initial beating a group of white boys beat up a black teen and none of them are facing charges.

People lets get our facts straight before, jumping up and down in other's faces screaming racism!

I'm several states away and we are having demonstrations over this – people upset, yelling, etc over facts that are not true!

Appropriate punishment for these 6? I don't know as I am not privy to their whole story. However, how many times do you allow someone who continues to make choice that breaks laws walk away?

And finally, what would the reaction be if the situation was reversed? What if 6 white boys beat up a black boy? What would everyone be saying then? I know what those same who want these Jena 6 to walk away with no punishment would be screaming for the 6 white kids to be punished to the full extent of the law b/c they commited a 'hate crime'.

So 6 black boys beating 1 white boy is not a 'hate crime'? People scream in-justice but yet folks we still have the double standard don't we?

Terrorized by the nooses? Yeah, they were so terrorized all six of them beat up one kid.

You're just as racist as Jackson.

BTW, I'm still waiting for Jackson to apologize to the Duke lacrosse players.

I encourage everyone to do research on this topic on their own and not take what you read in this thread as fact.

The main concern that I have is that the justice system isn't working correctly in this case. Bell didn't have competent defense and didn't have a jury that gave him a fair trial. In no jury should members personally know those involved in the case, let alone have attended high school with the victim's father.

Secondly, equating shoes with a deadly weapon is a very dangerous precedent. If someone contemplating a criminal act is looking at the same penalty for beating someone as they will see for shooting or knifing, which do you think they'll choose? For 22 years in jail, they'd better have done more than stomp him so mildly that he attended a school function later in the same day.

There are a great many people on this board jumping up and down claiming racial injustice and I find it a little strange that ALL of your factual summaries are VERY different. I know most of you are merely reacting in an emotional manner to what you are being told to perceive as racial injustice but let's wait and see what the courts and the people who actually HAVE A CLUE what's going on down there have to say about it.

You wrote, "Those white kids are no better than the blacks. All of you go to HELL! You should all burn in hell."

MLK would be proud, Sirena. Yeah, those poor 6 black youths should be released and given a parade for beating down the lone white kid. And all the whitey's in this country should realize African Americans are here to stay (huh?) – and will continue crying racism when any African Americans are charged with a crime.

WHERE is Bill Cosby? We need his intelligence now more than ever!

The fact that a white kid got beat up is not the issue...the MAIN issue and what seems to be overlooked is that an injustice has occurred. Had the students who hung the nooses been dealt with in a more appropriate manner, the events that happed after that would not have occurred. There would be no news to report except what should have been the headline, "3 white students expelled from school for hanging nooses from a tree". How can we as a nation, justify these actions?? WE can't. Regardless of who was right, action should have been taken appropriately against those white students who felt the need to stir up racial tension. What it boils down to is this: the accountability for the actions that started this whole mess was not dealt with and when more incidents started to happen, more slaps on the hands, if that, kept on occurring...but as soon as someone stands up for themselves or is finally fed up, no one wants to take a stand and admit any wrong doing. Here's food for thought, if a woman-regardless of color, is beaten over and over by her husband and he is never punished and doesn't stop the beatings; is the woman wrong for one day finally defending herself and the husband ends up dead or hurt? It's a crazy world we live in, but when justice is not being served...what type of message is being conveyed?

The question of 'justice' is raised due to the fact that the US Constitution, not the "black" or the "white" constitution, states under the 8th amendment that citizens have the right not to incur "excessive bail" and/or "cruel or 'unusual' punishment" for a crime. Rights that were clearly violated in this case. So much so, that one of the boy's sentences was overturned yet he is still incarcerated. Hence the term "free the Jena 6".

Regardless of how one feels regarding the racial tensions that this incident has produced, one cannot deny nor should it be overlooked that these boys have not been treated fairly by the criminal justice system or the school officials involved.

If anger needs to be directed at anyone, it needs to be towards the ADULTS who were in positions to de-escalate the situation before it got to this point and chose not to do so for the sake of their own pride and prejudices.

No one has the right to physically harm anyone. But shame is on those who feel that these children deserve 22 years in prison for a fight (granted one that may have gotten out of hand)...but nevertheless a fight!

This is why thousands are marching through a town for 'injustice'!

Exactly how do you know who is "white" and who is "black" on this message board?

Are you suggesting that ALL white people are on one side and ALL black people are on the other?

This is the kind of thinking that represents the PROBLEM and NOT the solution in this country.

If your version of the facts has any merit whatsoever I am sure that it will come out at the end of the day.

Unfortunately many of the facts are not kown by our white collegues here.

First of all to the comments of the kid being beaten to near death. This is completely untrue.
This young man was hit by a black teenager in the group becuase he was attemptting to wrestle a shotgun from him. A shot gun he plan to use to kill any number of the black teens in question. Our White writers may not be aware that one of the black boys was beaten savagely by 4 white teens at a party over next to nothing. The others black teens came to RESCUE this boy. When they stop the beating of the black teen, one the responisble teens, the "victim" went to his truck and got a SHOTGUN to kill the black teens involved. That is when one of the black teens wrestled with this person took the gun away to save there lives, in the process the the gun tooting victim was struck in the face 3 times. Suffered a black eye and facial abrasions...NOT a concussion like some have attempted to report.

Unfortunately, many of you have been under-informed or mis-informed. I hope this helps you understand the postion that we are taking.

Does ANYONE think this is anything less than overt pandering?

These young adults (4 of whom were adults under LA law and 1 who had a criminal record prior to the incident) got together and beat the hell out of another student who had nothing to do with anything involving hate crimes. They should pay to the full extent of the law for what they did.

All this other stuff is being brought up to cloud the issue and give bottom dwellers like Sharpton and Jackson the opportunity to come in and do some political grandstanding.

Meanwhile, the ambulence chaser Hillary, hears about some disturbance off in the distance and quickly dials up the cause of the disturbance to try and get some of the African American vote.

Then of course, the other instigator, accuses the African American candidate of acting like a white person.

Folks, THESE ARE BAD PEOPLE. They are PART OF THE PROBLEM and NOT part of the solution. Please, don't be fooled.

I have also heard enough of whites complaining about hate crime charges like it was made just to stop whites from attacking minorities. If you would do a little research, you would see that the key case supporting hate crime charges was an assault by a group of blacks on a white man. The group just got done watching the film Mississippi Burning. One suggested that if the group was upset at whites, they should take it out on a white guy just walking down the street. They did and were charged with a hate crime. So for those asking if hate crime charges apply when whites are attacked, the answer is of course.

As for Jesse's comments about Obama, that what minorities, not just blacks, have to deal with. You try to achieve you meet resistance not only from some whites but also from your own kind that don't want you to achieve. Obama was one of the first candidates to speak of the Jena 6 and he did call the charges inappropriate. Jesse should know it is hard enough for a black candidate to get a number whites to support him, if he speaks too strongly on the issue, he will just about ruin his chances at the presidency.

2. The nose is normally a warning that worse things are comming. I am sure some the white readers do not understand this nor do some of you care to understand.

3. The kid that got beat up was beat becuase he sought to harm or kill some one else, this seemed to be ignored in this case. When the sheriff became involved he took the firearm and thought it was clear who owned it, charged the black teens for posession of a deadly weapon and NO charges against the teen that branished the weapon.

4. In previous case when blacks were attacked, no charges where filed.

5. even though this can quilfy as a hate crime, no charges where file for the nose incident or the multiple taunting incidents that occured previously.

6. No substantial action was taken for threats against black students. The kids that initiated this where simple sent home and "asked not to do it again"

Please ladies and gentlemen, before making statements about this issue, arm yourself with FACTS and not conjecture or rumors. Maybe you will be able to form a more objective opinion and not one along racial lines.

The fact that black leaders only made this into an issue after the black boys were arrested doesn't say much for the black leadership. They had an issue to raise when the nooses were raised and when the black boy was beat up. They could be pressing for charges against the white boys who beat up the black kid but they aren't. They instead prefer the continuation of hypocrisy by saying that there is no real crime committed by beating up a boy who used racial slurs. Because were not thinking human being who talk things out, were all just a bunch of animals who should be allowed to beat people up who say things we don't like.