http://www.kevindhendricks.com/2007/10/03/jena-6-who-can-you-believe/ Thoughts, ponderings, reflections. Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:27:16 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 http://www.kevindhendricks.com/2007/10/03/jena-6-who-can-you-believe/comment-page-1/#comment-2062 tpy Thu, 04 Oct 2007 13:45:32 +0000 http://kevindhendricks.com/2007/10/03/jena-6-who-can-you-believe/#comment-2062 I've got a few thoughts on the Jena 6, but mostly they require more research. I will say one thing, though. From what I understand, Louisiana law says that crimes on the books can be upgraded to "hate crimes" but there is no category for hateful things that are not already crimes. So if the prosecutor had found that a crime was committed, he could have prosecuted it as a hate crime. But if he determines no other crime is committed, he can't just prosecute it as a hate crime. This is different from some other states that can prosecute an action as a hate crime separate from any other crime committed. I’ve got a few thoughts on the Jena 6, but mostly they require more research. I will say one thing, though. From what I understand, Louisiana law says that crimes on the books can be upgraded to “hate crimes” but there is no category for hateful things that are not already crimes. So if the prosecutor had found that a crime was committed, he could have prosecuted it as a hate crime. But if he determines no other crime is committed, he can’t just prosecute it as a hate crime. This is different from some other states that can prosecute an action as a hate crime separate from any other crime committed.

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