Dr. Phil has decided to fix Jena. Here and here you can access blow-by-blow recapitulations of the programs from Friday and Monday. Bishop T.D. Jakes, a Dallas-based megachurch pastor who shares Dr. Phil’s “attitude is everything” philosophy, recently traveled to Jena to interview family members of the Jena 6. Back in the studi0, Dr. Phil chats with Justin Barker and his parents.
The psychologist and the pastor want to see some “restorative justice”. If only Justin Barker could sit down with Robert Bailey Jr., Mychal Bell and the other Jena 6 defendants, maybe, just maybe, they could work all of this out on their own.
Bad idea.
In the course of a mid-June hearing in Jena, prosecutor Reed Walters was asked what he meant by his infamous “with a stroke of my pen, I can make your lives disappear” comment. The long-suffering district attorney explained that he was in the middle of a difficult case and didn’t see why he should be dragged away to the High School. The noose incident, he suggested, was being blown out of proportion. Besides, Walters concluded, the white kids and the black kids were perfectly capable of working things out on their own.
Jena’s Lord-of-the-Flies scenario, in which immature adolescents were deprived of adult guidance and expected to respond reasonably, unfolded because grown-ups were unwilling, or unable, to respond to a hate crime.
Dr. Phil and Bishop Jakes know that Justin and the Jena 6 need a little guidance. They don’t want to stick these kids in a room by themselves. A guided discussion ending is in hugs all around is more what they have in mind.
I hope that happens . . . after the legal fight is over.
America has opted for a retributive justice system. We don’t ask “Who has been hurt; who is at fault; and how can peace be restored?” That’s restorative justice. Instead, we ask, “What crime has been committed; who is the guilty party; and what is the appropriate penalty?”
Retributive justice is rooted in the idea that punishment (fines, incarceration, or even the death penalty) provide the best fix available. The process is adversarial–somebody is going to win, and somebody is going to lose. Robert, Mychal, Theo, Bryant, Carwin, and Jesse Ray are looking at serious prison time if they are convicted of assaulting Justin Barker. Even worse, they will be felons for the rest of their lives: deprived of student loans, most forms of federal assistance and, most likely, decent jobs . . . forever.
If the Jena 6 are convicted, the American Dream is gone.
On the other hand, if the evidence against the Jena 6 falls short of the “reasonable doubt” standard, they will walk free. This isn’t an academic observation–the facts in this story are far murkier than most pundits realize.
Regardless of how things play out in the courtroom, Justin and the Jena 6 will be eternally locked in a winner-takes-all firefight. That’s the way the game is played in America. If T.D. Jakes and Dr. Phil may have a problem with that they are not alone. But they aren’t calling the shots here. A hyper-pious lay-preacher named Reed Walters is calling the shots and the last thing he wants to see is a group hug involving Justin Barker and his alleged assailants.
Bishop Jakes and Dr. Phil may get a chance to effect a rapprochement between these kids–but first these cases will have to be transferred out of LaSalle Parish and out of the hands of Reed Walters and Judge J.P. Mauffray.
But Dr. Phil doesn’t want to wait that long. The story will never be hotter than it is right now. Who knows if the story will garner the same audience response a month from now. And Dr. Phil is all about the ratings–he has no choice; that’s the way the media game is played.
Friends of Justice 
This was a very good article. I watched both days (recorded it) and watched it in it’s entirety. Yes it all sounds good, but we’ll see. Justin Barker needs to tell the truth. I wasn’t there. None of us were, but I’ve maintained the “Jena Six” did not just decide out of the clear blue sky to assault him. It just doesn’t add up. Also, I thought, we don’t know what happened that day. In a fight where arms are flying, we don’t know who really threw the first blow. We only have Justin Barker’s story that “7 boys jumped him on the way to the gym.” As no one is really allowed to talk about the case, we really don’t have the TRUE facts. The boys have great lawyers. I believe we all will be surprised in the juvenile court when this case comes out as to what really happened.
I commend you on the fine work you do at Friends of Justice.
Thanks so much. Reading all the hate mail our blog has attracted can be disheartening, but instructive. A little encouragement along the way is greatly appreciated.
Alan
# alanbean said, October 3, 2007 at 12:48 am
Thanks so much. Reading all the hate mail our blog has attracted can be disheartening, but instructive. A little encouragement along the way is greatly appreciated. Alan
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Alan, do you call ‘disagreement’ “hate mail”? Because, if you do, you truly do not grasp the concept of the free exchange of ideas. I try to counter the flow. If I perceive that another viewpoint needs to be addressed.
What I see mostly on these boards are pats on the back, way to go, FOJ! I think most folks who frequent these bleeding-heart liberal websites and message boards with agreeable postings need to have their most basic, fundamental assumptions challenged in a calm, clear way. So far, a lot of what I, for one, have challenged your posters with have gone unretorted. Except for the occassional vituperation.
No, Jimmy, your comments do not constitute hate mail. If you could see some of the expletive-laced comments we don’t publish you would know what I’m talking about.
Admittedly, I only saw half of day one and all of day two – plenty enough for me. That he brought his pal, Bishop T.D. Jakes into the mix was enough to tell me where this was going to go. Now I know I’m blaspheming in the Black community if I don’t have the proper reverence for the bishop, but forgive me if my view of God and what I see in the bishop tend to conflict. Something about moneychangers in the temple gets me a little riled. And no, he is hardly the first or ONLY Black minister about whom I feel this way, but I digress.
I agree that Dr. Phil is all about the ratings (I used to contribute to both his and Oprah’s ratings daily until I finally got it!), but what’s worse is for all his kumbaya psycho-babble, neither he nor Bishop Jakes ever seriously addressed the deep impact of hanging nooses on a Black populace. It was more about, “We cannot use violence to solve our differences” and Justin Barker, the victim it seemed. I would like to direct Dr. Phil and the good bishop to the “Without Sanctuary” website http://www.withoutsanctuary.org/main.html for a little refresher course on nooses and their psychological impact on Blacks in this country. And don’t bother reading or clicking through the images. Just sit back and watch the flash movie and then tell me all we have to do is get these boys together in the Dr. Phil House and that’ll make it all okay. What’s going on in this country is way deeper than that.
Hold on, that website “Without Sanctuary” also shows photos of whites who were hung too. So by ‘Deb’s’ reference to this site and how it should be a refresher of the psychological impact on blacks, shouldn’t it therefore hold the same impact on whites? Also, if you look closely at the dates on these photos, they all were taken prior to 1930. So that would mean that very few, if any, people, white or black, still alive today could have been involved in these incidents, even as a spectator. Yes it is a part of history to remember but if we are ever to overcome racial hate, then we, black and white, have to stop blaming one another for what our great- grandfathers and grandmothers might have done or had done to them almost a hundred years ago or more. I believe it is possible to teach subsequent generations that violence, threats, and abuses are not the proper way to deal with someone you don’t like for whatever reason. I think however, some of the racial stereotyping, which some people may believe to still be racism, is not going away anytime soon. As humans, we associate certain behaviors with certain physical characteristics a person has. I believe this is subconscience, but I’m not a psychologist, so I could be wrong. Unfortunately, if the behavior is bad, then it may cause distrust of anyone who has the characteristic(s) of that behavior. And I don’t think this is only a trait of white people, but rather of all persons no matter what race they are.