According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jena 6 defendant Robert Bailey will be able to play football this year.  According to a poll, 66% of readers agree with this decision.  If the poll were taken in Jena I fear we would see a different result.

‘Jena Six’ athlete to play at Columbus’ Shaw High
GHSA grants eligibility to Robert Bailey Jr., who awaits trial for battery charge

By S. THOMAS COLEMAN

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Monday, August 25, 2008

Robert Bailey Jr., one of the “Jena Six,” will be allowed to play for Shaw High in Columbus this season.

The Georgia High School Association approved Bailey’s hardship appeal to be granted eligibility for the 2008-09 school year today at its fall executive committee meeting. Bailey’s appeal was the only one of five requests to be approved.

Bailey is one of six black teenagers from Jena, La., who came to be known as the “Jena Six,” after they originally were charged with attempted murder after allegedly attacking a white student at Jena High School in December of 2006. The charges were eventually reduced to aggravated second-degree battery. Five of the six, including Bailey, are awaiting trial.

The alleged attack was one of several racially charged incidents that occurred in the rural town that year, and the case brought worldwide attention to Jena. An estimated 20,000 protesters marched through Jena last summer in a show of support for Bailey and his co-defendants.

The Raiders are ranked No. 5 in Class AAA in the AJC’s preseason Top 10 poll. They are a combined 71-12 since 2002.