ABC News’ Jonathan Greenberger reports: In a written statement tonight, Sen. Barack Obama cheered the decision earlier today by a Louisiana court to overturn the battery conviction of a black teenager.
Presidential candidates don’t often release statements on the actions of state courts in individual convictions, but this case is unusual. While it has gone largely unnoticed by much of the mainstream media, for African-Americans, the so-called "Jena 6" case became something of a cause celebre that brought back memories of the Jim Crow era.
In the small town of Jena, La., six black teenagers were charged first with attempted murder, then battery, after their actions in a schoolyard brawl left a white teenager with a black eye and concussion. The first of the six teens to be tried was convicted in July of aggravated battery and faced up to 15 years in jail. He was due to be sentenced later this month, and it was his conviction that was overturned by a Louisiana appeals court today.
Many African-American leaders, including former presidential candidates Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, had spoken out vigorously about the case, complaining that the charges against the black teens were excessive.
"The case plays to the fears of many blacks," Sharpton told USA Today earlier this month. "You hear the stories from your parents and grandparents, but you never thought it would happen in 2007. I think what resonates in the black community is that this is so mindful of pre-1960 America."
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