Submitted by Blair, Nov 3, 2007 12:11

The Megan Williams case is not being prosecuted as a hate crime because the evidence doesn't support allegations that the crime was racially motivated. People who are trying to elevate the case to a hate crime are playing into the hands of the defense.

The three white students who hung the nooses at Jena High School say they did it to poke fun at friends who were member of the school rodeo team, an idea they say they got from the famous lynching scene in the movie, "Lonesome Dove." This explanation has been widely redicules, but local officials and federal investigators who have actually interviewed are convinced they are telling the truth.

A common but false assertion made in connection with the Jena High School beating is that the Jena Six, who are charged with aggravated assault, are being over-charged simply because they are black. However, in a 2005 case similar to the Jena Six beating, five white South Carolina teenagers who beat up a black teenager were charged and convicted of "second-degree lynching and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature."

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