Chairman Conyers Announces Forum, Hearings on “Jena Six”

[babylonsister]

http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=776

Chairman Conyers Announces Forum, Hearings on “Jena Six”

From the Judiciary Committee:

Conyers Announces Forum, Hearings on “Jena Six”

(Washington, DC)- Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) told a crowd gathered on the Capitol grounds that he is holding a forum next week and plans to hold hearings to address the case of six teenagers in Jena, Louisiana who were charged with attempted murder for a schoolyard fight. Conyers spoke during a rally of support for the students, now being called the “Jena Six,” in Washington, in coordination with rallies in Jena and other U.S. cities.

“I want to hold a forum next week and hearings at some point in the Judiciary Committee on this issue because in 2007, there should not even be allegations of unequal justice based on race or any other factors,” Conyers said. “This case brings to light what could be a national trend and the Judiciary Committee should explore that.”
Conyers will hold a forum next week during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Annual Legislative Conference on Friday, September 28 at 3 p.m. in room 209C of the Washington Convention Center. It will feature Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), Harvard professor Dr. Charles Ogletree, a family member of one of the Jena Six students, Louisiana ACLU representatives and others. The Judiciary Committee hearing has not yet been set.

“We’ve reached a point in history where this kind of situation is no longer tolerable,” Conyers added. “I commend everyone across the country for participating in rallies, sending your support and letting these students and the rest of the country know that we will not stand for this type of injustice.”

The Jena six case is the tragic result of a series of racial incidents that divided the small community of Jena, Louisiana. The controversy dates back to August 2006 when Black students at Jena High School attempted to sit under a tree where white students socialized exclusively and the following day, three white students hung nooses from the tree. A series of racially charged episodes involving off-campus violence followed the noose incident including a fight in which a white student would be injured and sent to the hospital. Five of the Black teens involved in the fight – Mychal Bell, Robert Bailey, Jr., Carwin Jones, Bryant Purvis, and Theo Shaw were originally charged as adults with attempted second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The sixth teen will be tried as a juvenile and faces undisclosed charges.

[emlev]

1. Any word yet about today's events in Jena?

[babylonsister]

4. I'm sure there is, but I've been reluctant to put the news on;

I've OD'd from OJ.

[flashl]

5. Jena update

Police estimate 60,000 in Jena

"Law enforcement said there have been no problems of “any significance” so far during the rally that brought tens of thousands into the small community. State Police said the crowd was larger than they had expected, with their estimates as high as 60,000.

"Marchers were respectful and gracious, many of the homeowners on the march route said.

"Sharpton reminded those gathered that they should respect the community and do nothing harmful in the name of Mychal Bell.

“No violence,” he stressed. “Not even an angry word. They will try to provoke you. You have to stand strong.”

[babylonsister]

6. WOW! That's a lot of people! Good on them for organizing this! nt

[emlev]

17. Fantastic! Thanks! Want to post that as its own thread?

Let me know and I'll K&R.

[goodhue]

2. excellent

[sandnsea]

3. Inequal justice

Black kids charged for murder over fights when white kids weren't charged at all. I hope Conyers' hearing will bring all this out, and that maybe people will understand this is significantly more important than a stupid ad.

[RangerRK]

7. Was this from public pressure?

Because we have been DEMANDING HE HOLD IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS!!!!
and we are supposed to be happy he does this?

[flashl]

8. Yes n/t

[RangerRK]

10. Well why doesn't he listen to us on Impeachment???

They say they don't have time to impeach?????????????

[flashl]

11. Last count there are 38 members on that committee. n/t

[RangerRK]

13. The Judiciary Committee wants to proceed with Impeachment Hearings.

Conyers is head of the Judiciary Committee and he does not. HE IS THE PROBLEM!
He had Cindy Sheehan arrested and tried to tell them 'let's just have another town hall meeting'


And this is just another, in a long line of distractions.

[flashl]

14. Where is info that the committee is ready? n/t

[RangerRK]

15. I looked but I cannot find it- I read it on DU somewhere

but this is a good indication of Conyers feelings on the subject...
great comments from David Swanson here
http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/content/view/2275/81/


AMY GOODMAN: Congressman Conyers, on the issue of the warrantless wiretapping, on the one hand you’ve had the Democrats going after Gonzales fiercely for the Bush administration’s secret warrantless domestic surveillance program, yet signing off on the recent bill that the Bush administration had pushed for for further warrantless wiretapping.

REP. JOHN CONYERS: Well, the leadership was, of course, against the bill, and the majority of Democrats voted against the bill. But we’ve got this consideration: we’ve got 233 Democrats; forty of them are Blue Dogs, that is, conservative Democrats that frequently vote Republican. And then we have another group that are new to the Congress in their first term elected from red state congressional districts, which they felt that they would not be able to come back, and we couldn’t get them over. So we didn’t have all of our Democrats. It was not a solid position. But the leadership, Pelosi and I and Reyes, the head of the Intelligence Committee, we pleaded with everybody to vote with us in caucus, and we weren’t able to persuade some of the new members, and we weren’t able to persuade some of the Blue Dogs.



AMY GOODMAN: Why would impeachment hearings put the election in jeopardy?

REP. JOHN CONYERS: Well, because unless I’ve got the Constitution in one hand and a calculator in the other, so I’ve got any kind of hearings on removing both the President and the Vice President *mdash; or putting it in reverse, remove the Vice President and then the President *mdash; within the months remaining, would require 218 votes in the House of Representatives. That’s my calculator giving me this information. And then, in the Senate we need two-thirds to convict. Notwithstanding all of my progressive friends that would love to see me start impeachment hearings, those votes I do not think exist in the House of Representatives or in the US Senate.



AMY GOODMAN: Finally, Congressman Conyers, if you weren’t holding your calculator, if you were just deciding whether impeachment was called for here, what would be the reasons you would list?

REP. JOHN CONYERS: What would be the reasons that I would what?

AMY GOODMAN: What would be the reasons you would list for impeachment, if you weren’t holding your calculator, just holding the Constitution?

REP. JOHN CONYERS: Oh, OK. Well, to me, we can accomplish probably as much as we would need to to make the record clear that there has been a great deal of violation of the sworn oath of office, abuses of power, through the hearings and inquiries that we can conduct. But it isn’t that *mdash; and no one has ever heard me suggest that we don’t think that there is conduct that could be proven to be impeachable.

But when Ron Dellums and Shirley Chisholm and Bella Abzug and William Fitts Ryan of New York, when we *mdash; Parren Mitchell *mdash; when we introduced an impeachment resolution, the first one against a sitting president in over seventy-five years, when Richard Nixon was being investigated, it was at the beginning of his term. And although he had been overwhelmingly reelected, there was time for us to have the hearing. This *mdash; the timing of an administration which will go down in history as probably one of the most disappointing, there isn’t the time here for it.

[flashl]

18. I read this as it is about the calculator

which was the basis of my earlier point. Trust me, I WANT IMPEACHMENT. But, I do know that Rep. Conyers have been asking constitutional scholars and other pointy heads on constitutional matters how to do it (impeach) for more than six years.

I thought one of the states took their impeachment resolution to Capitol hill in accordance with Jefferson's Manual. That should have started the ball to rolling on impeachment some time ago. The Jefferson Manual indicates that a state can, indeed, initiate impeachment.

If Conyers can't do it by himself, then, we need to help get those state impeachment resolutions to Congress.

[ThomCat]

9. I would love to have marched in Jenna today.

Good for Conyers! I hope he makes this a huge public issue and gets this in all the major media.

[Coexist]

12. thank you, sir

those kids should NOT go to jail. The entire thing is disgusting.

[in_cog_ni_to]

16. Oh, Thank G-d. SOMETHING MUST BE DONE about what is happening in Jena and everywhere else Racism

has reared its ugly head!

I wish I could have been in Jena today. There were THOUSANDS of people there. The crowd was HUGE. It was nice to see.

Go, John Conyers!!!