Hillary Clinton Statement on the Jena Six

I am very worried about what has happened -- and what is happening -- in Jena, Louisiana. I do not condone violence of any kind, but this situation raises very serious questions of injustice and inequality. I am deeply concerned about reports of potentially disparate treatment of white youths and African-American youths in the criminal justice system. I am troubled by reports that African-American students were initially charged and may be sentenced in a manner out of proportion to their wrongs. And I have long been troubled by a history of disparate treatment of African Americans in our criminal justice system.

Situations like this one remind us that we all have a responsibility to confront racial injustice and intolerance. I urge the civil rights divisions of the Department of Justice and the Department of Education to thoroughly review these cases and the surrounding events to find out whether they raise federal civil rights violations.