Judge J.P. Mauffray has been recused from the five remaining “Jena 6” cases. The USA Today story below provides all the particulars.
It has often been said that last September’s massive march had little lasting effect. While it is true that march organizers lacked a long-range plan, the avalanche of concern that descended upon this tiny community has put Louisiana officials on notice. The full range of due process protections must be extended to the Jena defendants or the crowds will return in force.
This explains why a conservative Louisiana judge is insisting that Mr. Mauffray step aside. The LaSalle Parish magistrate has always viewed the Jena 6 defendants as dangerous thugs. This widespread perception, coupled with a refusal to consider the assault on Justin Barker in historical context, made it very likely that multi-decade prison terms would destroy six young lives.
Flipping through the pages of the Jena Times in January of 2007, I realized that only a massive intervention could forestall this dreadful scenario. We needed top-flight attorneys and the money to keep them on task. Judge Mauffray was recused because a tight, dedicated team of legal professionals placed every prejudicial statement he had ever made in the most devastating light.
The abiding threat of massive protest and skilled legal work have produced a magnificent (and highly unusual) result.
The Jena defendants won’t be guaranteed a fair judicial progress until District Attorney Reed Walters joins Judge Mauffray on the sidelines. Secondly, we need a change of venue. No Jena jury can be impartial. All of this will take some time, but today’s victory shows that the legal momentum is shifting in the direction of justice. Would that all poor black defendants received the kind of representation these young men are enjoying.
Judge removed from cases against ‘Jena Six’ teens
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – A state district judge on Friday decided that the judge presiding over the cases of five black teens prosecuted for allegedly beating a white teen could not be fair and removed him.
Judge J.P. Mauffray Jr. had acknowledged calling the teens “trouble makers” and “a violent bunch” but insisted he could be impartial. Judge Thomas M. Yeager, who was asked by defense attorneys to review the case, found there was an appearance of impropriety and took Mauffray off the case.
“The right to a fair and impartial judge is of particular importance in the present cases,” Yeager wrote.
Six black teens were arrested and initially charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder in connection with a December 4, 2006, attack on fellow Jena High School student Justin Barker, who is white. The charges were later reduced.
Jesse Ray Beard, Robert Bailey Jr., Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis and Theo Shaw now face aggravated second-degree battery charges. Beard is charged as a juvenile.
Mychal Bell is the only member of the group that has been tried. He was originally charged as an adult with attempted murder. The charge was reduced before a jury convicted him last June of aggravated second-degree battery.
In September, an appeals court overturned the verdict and ordered Bell tried as a juvenile. He pleaded guilty to a juvenile charge of second-degree battery. He now lives in Monroe, Louisiana, with a foster family and is attending school.
The case aggravated racial tensions in the tiny, central Louisiana town, and led to a massive civil rights demonstration last September.
Mauffray was out of town, court officials said, and would not comment on the ruling.
District Attorney Reed Walters said he may appeal the decision.
“Whatever ultimately happens concerning the judge, this does not mean these cases go away,” he said. “It will just take longer to get them to trial. However, I may seek to have the decision overturned.”
An attorney for Beard said he hoped it the Louisiana Supreme Court would quickly appoint a new judge to hear the remaining cases.
“Everyone is entitled to a fair judge, not the judge they want,” attorney David Utter said. “It mystifies me why the district attorney would fight this.”
Friends of Justice 
It appears to be quite apparent that D.A. Reed Walters wants the all too known “Good ole boys” way of doing things (all over Amerikkka) should be kept as is. Regardless of how bias the Judge wouldv’e been (your actions define your character) and how the white Jena jurors wouldv’e been equally if not more prejudiced than the judge. Bottom line they’re mad that the black residents were smart enough to make the kind of noise that attracted the entire country (particulary the media/you guys are more useful than not)!! Had the situation been kept provincial those juveniles wouldv’e gotten railroaded in a blatantly racist trail and that wouldv’e been the end of that!! Despite the fact that the victim (Justin) was nobody’s angel by his personal history. He was at the wrong place, saying and/or engaging in the wrong thing, towards the wrong group of kids and caught a beating! This happens everyday in high schools all over the country and all of a sudden you’re trying to bring these kids up on second degree murder charges!?!? Like I said a racist contingent of an entire community is angry that injustice wasn’t served….
This is good news. I’m especially cheered to hear that Mr. Bell is in foster care and back in school–instead of rotting away in a jail for a dozen years. I feel that a kid who’s gone through what he has in this case has probably had *plenty* of time to think about the (lack of) wisdom involved in beating someone up, and is not likely to reoffend; whereas if he were stuck in the prison population and had years to learn violence as an everyday coping mechanism, he and the people he ran into in the future might not be so lucky.
Thank you for shining light on this situation. May there be a fair trial for the other five defendents.
We’re in the right direction. Let’s all hope it stays this way till the end of the trial. Good luck to all of you and a BIG thank you for making this happen.
I am so glad to hear that there is some inkling of fairness in the justice system especially in cases like this. I am hoping that someone of authority would ask Reed Walters to step aside also or reduce his capacity in all cases. We need to send a message to all people in the judicial system to lose that 100 years old mentality of judging people based on a perception, like they did in Salem years ago. This is not something you would expect from the most powerful nation in the world.