House Panel to Weigh Jena 6 Case

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON (AP) - Civil rights activist Al Sharpton says Congress should expand hate crime laws to deal more forcefully with noose-hanging incidents like the one in the Jena Six case in order to squelch what he called a sharp rise in racism.

Sharpton is scheduled to testify today before the House Judiciary Committee about the case of 6 black teenagers in the small Louisiana town of Jena charged with the beating of a white student. The incident happened after nooses were hung from a tree on a high school campus there -- a symbol of the violence of the segregation era.

Since the Jena case began attracting national attention, there have been a number of other nooses found in high-profile incidents around the country.

Last week, 1 of the Jena Six, Mychal Bell, was sentenced to 18 months in jail after a judge determined he violated the terms of his probation for a previous conviction.



Read more: http://www.katc.com/global/story.asp?s=7218853