http://axcessnews.com/index.php/articles/show/id/12740
House committee to examine hate crimes, Jena Six incident
By Kris Turner
(AXcess News) Washington – The House Judiciary Committee will be schooled about the Jena Six incident and youth hate crimes Tuesday.
Legal and civil rights experts will testify about the types of youth hate crimes being committed throughout the country, using the Jena Six as an example.
“A very high percentage of hate crimes in our country are committed by youth,” said Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center. “Schools are a common venue for hate crimes.”
In December, six black teenagers were charged with attempted murder after being arrested for beating a white classmate in Jena, La. The arrests followed a series of racial incidents at Jena High School that included the hanging of nooses from a tree.
Schools are the third most common place hate crimes are committed, the FBI reported in its 2005 Uniform Crime Report. From 2004 to 2005, hate crimes at schools and colleges increased by 8 percent, the report stated.
“There are a lot of hormones that are raging,” said Cohen, who will testify before the committee. “Our schools are flash points for this activity. People are stating their claim and marking their territory.”
School administrators can help eliminate hate crimes, but sometimes exacerbate situations by dolling out unequal punishments to students, Cohen said.
The Jena Six incident highlights the failure of public schools and the criminal justice system, said Charles Ogletree, director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard Law School. Congress must examine whether Jena High School treated its black and white students the same when handing out punishments. Several white students were suspended for hanging the nooses.
“The Jena case is simply the reflection of a broader set of problems and racial hostility in the United States,” said Ogletree, who also will testify before the committee. “While we were shocked and dismayed to learn about nooses being hung on a tree that was usually reserved for white students to sit in the shade, we have seen repeated incidents at Columbia University and the University of Maryland. This sort of behavior is coming back in the 21st century.”
The commonplace nature of hate crimes in schools is disturbing, said Joselle Shea, manager of children and youth initiates for the National Crime Prevention Council. Schools are working to prevent hate crimes, and focusing on bullying is one way to stop the spread of hate, she added.
The council has visited more than 30 states and established programs that teach tolerance, Shea said. The programs consist of skits or demonstrations that illustrate the effects of harassment.
“The Jena Six incident is a call for all of us and our communities to take a good look and see how we are showing respect for all the people in our community,” she said.
Also scheduled to testify Tuesday are the Rev. Al Sharpton; Donald Washington, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Louisiana; Lisa Krigsten, of the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division; and the Rev. Brian Moran, pastor of the Jena Antioch Baptist Church and president of Jena’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Source: Scripps Howard Foundation Wire
Friends of Justice 
Excuse me! Am I no longer at liberty to hate?? Is not hate a normal human emotion, one in which I am within my rights to embrace and nourish to my hearts content if I so choose? What is all this talk about “human rights” if it does not include hate? All this so-called “hate legislation” makes a mockery of the “pledge of allegiance”, because it states that I have “liberty and justice for all”. Supposedly, I have liberty, which also means I am at liberty to love or not, to participate or not, to hate or not, to be kind or not, to read what I want or not read at all and not be government forced to read what I do not want, to make up my own mind about things, to make my own choices.
As I understand these “hate crime” legislations, double jeopardy has been introduced. If someone carries out an act against someone, the object of their hate, there are already laws in place to deal with it. But now, you are being punished for your thoughts as well. Where will that trend end? Will I someday be punished for disagreeing with the emperial president if I have revealed my thoughts to a trusted friend and have been eavesdropped on? Will we one day be fined for speaking ‘forbidden’ words?
Right now, if I assault someone, there are laws in place to deal with it. But, in recent years, someone, probably a Negro, stated THAT was not enough, especially if the Negro was called “a nigger” during the confrontation. So now we have double jeopardy which goes against the 5th Amendment and no one is complaining. So then, why have a Constitution at all if someone picks and chooses what and when it applies?
Should I also consider the “pledge of allegiance” a mockery and no longer recite it??
Sharpton was a no-show. After Brawaley and Duke, the old rat must finally recognize a sinking ship.
A Civil Movement based on Jena is a failure from the start, and don’t go looking in Palmdale either, Mervin’s wrist wasn’t broken.
If you want to truly be a friend of justice, use your influence on a case like Genarlow Wilson or go to WV and support Megan Williams.