Trouble in Jena

TRIBUNE UPDATE

Former cop indicted in Taser death in Louisiana

Ruling in a racially explosive case that some forensic experts have described as police torture, a grand jury in the small Louisiana town of Winnfield indicted a white police officer Wednesday on charges of manslaughter and official malfeasance for repeatedly shocking a handcuffed black suspect with a Taser device, resulting in the man's death due to cardiac arrest.

TRIBUNE SPECIAL REPORT

Taser death ignites racial tensions

At 1:28 p.m. last Jan. 17, Baron "Scooter" Pikes was a healthy 21-year-old man. By 2:07 p.m., he was dead.

TRIBUNE DISPATCH

With judge dismissed, Jena 6 backers now target prosecutor

Fresh from their successful effort to remove a local judge on the grounds that he was biased against them, the defendants in the racially charged Jena 6 case in Louisiana are now seeking the recusal of the local prosecutor for similar reasons.

TRIBUNE UPDATE

Judge ousted for remarks

The judge overseeing the criminal cases for the remaining Jena 6 defendants was removed against his will Friday for making questionable remarks about the teenagers.

TRIBUNE DISPATCH

Jena 6 judge is reversed yet again

For the third time in a year, a Louisiana judge facing questions about his impartiality in overseeing the racially charged Jena 6 case has had one of his rulings reversed.

Jena 6 judge faces charge of bias in removal hearing

Attorneys for the five remaining defendants facing trial in the racially divisive Jena 6 incident in Louisiana presented evidence Friday of what they said was bias on the part of the judge presiding over the cases and sought his removal.

TRIBUNE UPDATE

Jena 6 defendant charged in Texas assault

A defendant in the racially-charged Jena 6 case in Louisiana has been arrested for assault after an altercation at the suburban Dallas high school he is now attending, potentially complicating his legal defense in Jena and dispiriting some of his supporters.

3 TOWNS: THE PAST, THE PRESENT, THE FUTURE

No black-and-white answers

Plotted on a map, the towns of Paris, Linden and Jena line up neatly along a 300-mile diagonal that falls across the Texas-Louisiana border.

TRIBUNE UPDATE

Plea deal arranged for teen in Jena 6

The district attorney in the racially-charged Jena 6 case in Louisiana agreed to a plea bargain Monday that sharply reduced the charges against the first of the six black teenagers who was facing trial, while attorneys for other defendants said the prosecutor appeared eager to settle their cases as well.

News media win suit to open Jena 6 case

A judge ruled Wednesday that the public and the news media should have full access to all legal proceedings involving Mychal Bell, one of the teenage defendants in the racially charged Jena 6 case in Louisiana whose prosecution had been shrouded in secrecy on orders of the trial judge.

TRIBUNE UPDATE

Judge says he'll open Jena trial to public

Replying to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of U.S. media companies, the judge overseeing the trial of Mychal Bell, one of the teenage defendants in the racially charged Jena 6 case in Louisiana, reversed course Thursday and agreed to open Bell's upcoming juvenile trial to the public.

Questions about Jena case funds

Just weeks after some 20,000 demonstrators protested what they decried as unequal justice aimed at six black teenagers in the Louisiana town of Jena, controversy is growing over the accounting and disbursing of at least $500,000 donated to pay for the teenagers' legal defense.

ACROSS THE NATION

Judge steps out of Jena hearing case

A judge has disqualified himself from hearing a request from news media to open juvenile court proceedings for a black teenager charged with beating a white classmate in Jena, La.

TRIBUNE UPDATE

Tribune, other media firms file motion to end Jena trial secrecy

A coalition of major American media companies filed a 1st Amendment petition Monday seeking to open to public scrutiny the criminal trial of Mychal Bell, one of the teenage defendants in the controversial Jena 6 case in Louisiana.

NATION

House panel demands answers in Jena case

Under pointed questioning from Democratic House members who decried the lack of federal intervention in the racially charged Jena 6 case, U.S. Justice Department officials revealed Tuesday that they are weighing an investigation into allegations of systemic bias in the administration of justice in the small, mostly white Louisiana town of Jena.

NATION

Jena 6 teen's return to jail draws queries

Civil rights leaders and juvenile justice experts on Friday sharply questioned the legality of a judge's surprise decision to send back to jail a black teenager whose prosecution in a racially charged case helped inspire a massive demonstration in the small Louisiana town of Jena last month.

NATION

Jena 6 defendant out of jail

Mychal Bell, the black teenager whose incarceration in a racially explosive case helped draw tens of thousands of civil rights protesters to the tiny Deep South town of Jena, La., last week, was released from jail on Thursday after more than nine months behind bars.

White supremacist backlash builds over Jena case

No sooner did tens of thousands of African-American demonstrators depart the racially tense town of Jena, La., last week after protesting perceived injustices than white supremacists flooded in behind them.

TRIBUNE UPDATE

Jena 6 teen is denied release

The judge overseeing the racially charged case of the Jena 6 declined Friday to release the only one of the six black teenagers still held in jail, despite the fact that the youth's conviction for aggravated second-degree battery was vacated a week ago by an appeals court, family members and court sources confirmed.

Protesters pack racially tense town

Drawn by the disturbing symbol of three lynching nooses dangling from a tree and greeted by Confederate flags displayed along their route, tens of thousands of African-Americans poured into this racially tense Deep South town Thursday to stage the largest civil rights demonstration in years against what they regard as glaring racial injustices here.

For marchers, destination Jena

Merchants bolted their doors, state police set up checkpoints and dozens of TV news trucks planted their satellite dishes Wednesday as thousands of civil rights demonstrators from across the nation headed here in overnight bus convoys for a planned Thursday morning march to protest what they perceive as unequal justice in this racially embattled central Louisiana town.

Jackson softens criticism of Obama in Jena 6 case

Jesse Jackson on Wednesday softened his criticism of Barack Obama, whom he reportedly criticized early this week for "acting like he's white" on the Jena 6 race case in Louisiana.

Blogs help drive Jena protest

There is no single leader. There is no agreed schedule. Organizers aren't even certain where everyone is supposed to gather, let alone use the restroom. The only thing that is known for sure is that thousands of protesters are boarding buses at churches, colleges and community centers across the country this week, headed for this tiny dot on the map of central Louisiana.

In Chicago, civic leaders vow to stay focused on 'Jena 6'

Black community leaders in Chicago on Saturday sought to keep the spotlight on the racially charged "Jena 6" case in Louisiana a day after a state appeals court there threw out a felony conviction against one of the teen defendants.

Appeals court overturns 'Jena 6' conviction

With the prospect of a major national civil rights protest looming next week in the central Louisiana town of Jena, a state appeals court on Friday abruptly vacated the felony conviction of a black teenager accused of beating a white student in a case fraught with racial tensions.

Part of 'Jena 6' conviction dropped; charges reduced

Ruling in a racially charged case that has drawn scrutiny from national civil rights leaders, a judge in the small central Louisiana town of Jena on Tuesday partially vacated the conviction of a black teenager accused in the beating of a white student while the district attorney reduced attempted murder charges against two other black co-defendants.

Louisiana teen guilty in school beating case

An all-white jury in the central Louisiana town of Jena swiftly convicted a black teenager Thursday for attacking a white student in an incident that capped months of racial unrest and attracted the scrutiny of civil rights leaders concerned about the application of justice in the town.

Charge reduced in 'Jena 6' case

The district attorney prosecuting a racially charged beating case in the small Louisiana town of Jena abruptly reduced attempted-murder charges Monday against a black high school student accused of attacking a white student, drawing cautious praise from civil rights leaders who contend the charges were excessive and part of a pattern of uneven justice in the town.

Racial demons rear heads

The trouble in Jena started with the nooses. Then it rumbled along the town's jagged racial fault lines. Finally, it exploded into months of violence between blacks and whites.