If Mychal Bell’s going to be the poster child for racial equality in the criminal justice system, I’m gonna need him to get his shit together from here on out.
Racism and nothing but racism was responsible for the ridiculous charges initially slapped on him and his friends and him being subsequently tried as an adult, but that really has nothing to do with the fact that he was on probation and shouldn’t have been fighting to begin with, despite the racial tension that had been building at Jena High School.
Louisiana State District Judge J.P. Mauffrey Jr. sentenced Bell to 18 months in the juvenile facility for four previous offenses, including two counts of simple battery and two pertaining to criminal destruction of property that occurred before the beating of classmate Justin Barker, according to The Associated Press. The decision came at the end of a two-day juvenile court hearing that was closed to the media, CNN reports.
I hate to see this kid go back to jail, though. I hope, and actually believe, that the events of the past year have probably permanently steered him in the right direction. Thousands of people marched into his town to protest the way he was treated — it will definitely make him think twice the next time he’s tempted to break the law.
[MTV]
Unfortunately, all those lessons will be unlearned because jail, even juvenile detention, creates criminals.
No, Daria, they are criminals before they reach detention.
I strongly believe that most juvenile offenders can be rehabilitated and that their problems stem from their home life. Throwing them in this almost exclusively punitive environment is disastrous. They’ll learn more and network with all the wrong people. Is juvenile detention going to equip him with a good education or marketable skills? In Jena, La., nope.
Racism absolutely got this young man where he is today - it was the reason for the fight (risking his probation); being tried as an adult; and facing up to 22 years for a teenage fight. I believe that violating probation deserves punishment - probation is afterall your second chance. That being said, at this point, can’t he be granted Time Served??!!? At this point, any additional jail time has the potential to do more harm than anything else. This is Not Justice. THIS IS NOT JUST!!!
safdsadfs: Branding a child a criminal will do more harm than good. Juveniles can still be helped. Throwing young men and women into poorly run jails and boot camps that in some states are damn near close to concentration camps for black and brown skinned ppl is wrong. I know first hand that you can throw a boy into one of those places for something trivial, and he will come out a hardened thug and gangbanger b/c you must align yourself with certain factions to survive. I suggest you educate yourself on the juvenile (in)justice system a little bit. It’s not all black and white.
I knew this “free Jena 6″ thing was to as clean as everyone made it out to be. Its hard to support a repeat offender. The criminal justice system has it issues, yes, but find a new test case.
Can we march for true victims now, like Megan Williams, you know, the women that was torture for 6 days. Or has she been forgotten about.
The Jena 6 case wasn’t about Mychal Bell. It was about social injustice. Mychal Bell’s legal issues were also well known prior to the march. Also keep in mind that while this boy may not be pefect it doesn’t preclude him and others from having something injust done to him. If bad things only happened to perfect ppl then bad things wouldn’t happen to very many ppl.
That being said…of course it doesn’t look good from a PR standpoint and he won’t receive anymore more support if he gets into anymore trouble.
Mychal Bell is in some ways the perfect poster child for activists to support, as this was never simply about race–the prison industrial complex needs some serious reform (or better, dismantling). What is this attitude that because he had committed offenses we can’t care about him? Seriously, we’re supposed to write off anyone who has been incarcerated? That’s why it’s so easy for so many people of color to be filling up jails. Yeah, technically many of them are guilty of something, but that isn’t really the point. The point is looking at the inherent inequity and inhumanity of the system.
Even Trent at Pink is the New Blog noted yesterday:
Why is it that women like Lil’ Kim, Foxy Brown and Michelle Rodriguez get sentenced to serious jail time while women like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan serve little to no time at all? Isn’t that interesting/curious?
To Carlagirl, LA apparently has more of a crowding problem than NY. Also, Foxy and Michelle have been given PLENTY of chances. Michelle was in jail for a minute before getting sent home with some ankle bracelet. She’s gotten plenty of slaps on the wrists. Paris Hilton got two slaps. Lindsay Lohan on the other hand has several cases pending.
If you want to compare, wait and see if Vivica or Eve reoffend. Then see what happens. All this being said, I think celeb cases don’t show the whole picture and the system gives whites far more chances than non-whites. Look at the monsters in the W Va case. Each of them had 20+ offenses. All four were living freely.