This is an updated version of the diary I posted on OpenLeft last week. I changed about half the diary.

For those who have not heard of Jena 6, here is a link for the description of the account. It's a tale of inexplicable arrogant racial injustice in a small Louisiana town.
http://friendsofjustice.wordpress.com/jena-6/.

This is the problem I have with this case. IT IS NOT THE RACISM OF ORDINARY WHITE CITIZENS THAT IS TROUBLING OR SHOCKING. Racism will unfortunately always exist. And this kind of blatant racism will also linger on in pockets. THE PROBLEM IS THE UNEQUAL ENFORCEMENT OF JUSTICE. It is criminal how they were lax in prosecuting the white guys, but are overcharging the African American accused.

The behavior of public officials in Jena and the failure of white Democratic officials in Lousiana to make a bigger issue of this case is the angle I intend on pursuing.

I talked to Alan Bean, Executive Director of Friends of Justice. He took me by surprise when he talked to me for more than 20 min.  He was kind enough to do that despite getting so many calls while I was talking to him. Since I was not prepared for that amount of access, I was unable to ask him all the questions I had

I told him that I want to talk to him in more detail at a later date as I didnt want to keep him occupied for too long without notice. He gave me contact numbers of the victims families.

Here are my requests. Do you have any questions you want me to ask him or the families? The questions about the Jena 6 case specifically are already answered on the website. Since I wrote my original diary on OpenLeft, media coverage has gone national, and that might make my access to these contacts more limited.

Also does someone who is local to the region want to partner with me on this issue? Face to face contact with the people I talk to on the phone will be nice. I will wait a few days for the fuss to die down and will start contacting people on the list Alan gave me.

Anyone with legal expertise will also be valuable. I want to be vigilant on this issue and since I am not a law expert, I do not want to say reckless crap that may make me looking foolish(example: regarding what I think Blanco could legally do).

This is the summary so far
1) Blanco has been invisible on this issue. She issued a perfunctory condemnation supposedly(But I can't seem to find it despite googling it). Blanco says through her rep that she is limited by the constitution to do anything on this. My question will be this: the local DA, Reed Walters, tried to intimidate students by saying that he could ruin their lives if they tried to complain about the nooses. I am not a lawyer but there's got to be some way to hold him accountable for this incident. Why can't Blanco apply pressure on the DA by threatening to prosecute him for his behavior or help facilitate a way to report him to the bar. Is there really nothing creative she can do to make his life tougher?  There are ways of applying pressure just like the Feds nailed Capone on tax problems despite inability to get enough punishment on his mob activities.
Blanco did not go to the march. I did not even see her give any speeches. I see online petitions addressed to her and all she can do is have one of her attorney appointees give a form letter reply? I will not shed a tear when this massive loser leaves the office.

2) So far none of the white Louisiana democrats of any significance have come forward to help out. Do any of you know about any responses by any of the Democrats in Lousiana and outside Louisiana? Supposedly the only politicians who gave a hoot were the African American politicians.  
Louisiana Democrats need to get their act together. Mary Landrieu has time to condemn a MoveOn ad but she had no time to even show up for this event or hold a public press conference on the day of the March. In fact, I cannot find anything she has done.

3) BBC jumped on this earlier than CNN. It takes CNN many months to cover this and a year or so later comes up with a 20 minute special.  The only time I heard about this was when MosDef mentioned it on Bill Maher a couple of wees ago. I have seen some diaries on Dkos by searching.

4) I asked the question which gave me the predictable answer "Did Jindal promise any support for the Jena 6?" Obviously the answer is No. If someone has access to Bobby Jindal, see if you can corner him on this issue. Since this Republican wants to become Governor, he needs to speak out on this issue.

5) Can any of you think of any other legal questions that I can ask Bean like the one I am going to ask about the DA obstructing justice by threatening students not to complain about the nooses. What about the school board? Any civil rights violations? I know morally a lot of crap has been done. But legally, I can't be sure about all the instances. And I am not just talking about the main case itself. I want to disprove Blanco's assertion that there is nothing she can do.

6) Who are the best activists I could contact on this issue other than Bean who could give me a fuller picture of the details?

7) Could Blanco hire someone to prosecute the white guys who attacked the black guy at some party? Or is that a federal thing?