Consider this a coda to the BNO symphony, but I couldn't let this bit of promising news escape the last day of Blogging New Orleans. Today, the Louisiana 3rd Circuit of Appeals vacated the conviction of Mychal Bell, the young black man who stood facing 20 plus years in prison for a school-yard beatdown. This is great news for the friends and families of the Jena 6, the group of young blacks arrested for knocking around a racist white kid at school.

You've probably seen the story on this site before or read about in the in the papers. I won't go into details, but suffice it to say that there are six young men -- and dozens of family members -- in Jena breathing a little easier now.

Ironically, this might be the best news to hit Jena, Louisiana ever. Now, the glaring light and international focus on Jena as the home of southern American racism will ease up. Now, unless the foolish and racist District Attorney Reed Walters (who famously told black students at a school assembly -- at a school assembly -- "I can end your lives with the stroke of a pen" when they organized to protest Jena High School students' racist actions) wants to refile the cases against the six in juvenile court, the young men will hopefully be able to return to their regular lives. Wiser, perhaps, from having faced the gates of a racist hell by lashing out at one sorry jerk who probably inherited race hatred from his prejudiced parents; hopefully the Jena 6 will find a better way to attack racism in their midst than by beating some dumb cracker unconscious.

So Walters will have to decide whether his famous pen is going to stroke against these young men further. He'd better choose wisely. Look what happened to Mike Nifong in Durham, NC, whose prejudices in the famous Duke Lacrosse rape case have cost him his job, and sent him to prison (admittedly for only 24 hours).

Look before you leap, Mr. Walters. The judgement of history is a real bitch when you're on the wrong side.

And you are on the wrong side.