Jena 6 Judge is Removed from Case

Civil Rights

Posted Aug 1, 2008, 10:35 am CST
By Martha Neil

The judge in charge of hearing the charges against the remaining Jena 6 defendants has been removed from the case.

Saying that there was an appearance of impropriety, Judge Thomas Yeager of Rapides Parish, La., removed LaSalle Parish District Judge J.P. Mauffray from the case today, in response to a recusal motion by the defense, reports the Associated Press. Mauffray had been accused of making inappropriate comments, allegedly calling the teens "troublemakers" and "a violent bunch."

Initially charged with attempted murder over a schoolyard attack that reportedly left the victim able to attend a party soon afterward, the high school students, all of whom are African-American, became a rallying point for a national civil rights movement. About 20,000 people participated in a civil rights march on the tiny town of Jena, La., last year, in protest of what they perceived as much harsher treatment of black defendants in criminal cases.

A former high school football star charged as an adult in the attack on a white high school classmate, Mychal Bell, eventually was sentenced to 18 months in juvenile court for second-degree battery late last year, in a plea deal.

Except for Bell, none of the other five Jena 6 defendants have had their cases resolved, the Associated Press reports in an article last month.

Related coverage:

Chicago Tribune: "Jena 6 judge is reversed yet again"

ABAJournal.com: "Noose Use Up Nationwide Since Jena March"

ABAJournal.com: "Judge Opens Jena 6 Juvenile Trial, Citizens March on DOJ"

ABAJournal.com: "Slavery By Another Name: Blacks Were Jailed as Forced Labor into 1940s"

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Posted by kay sieverding - 4 months, 1 day, 9 hours, 44 minutes ago

I wish Martha or someone would explain how the judge got removed. The articles don’t say anything about an appeal. Is it a special procedure in Louisiana?

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