Racial Injustice?

U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson was not impressed with Washington Mayor Marion Barry's last-minute contrition. On Oct. 26, Jackson sentenced him to six months in prison and a $5,000 fine for a cocaine- possession misdemeanor. Having failed to provide a "good example" in the city's highest post, said the judge, Barry "must now become an example of another kind." Last week Jackson hinted that he may have had more controversial motives for handing down what the mayor claims is stiff punishment.

Speaking at Harvard Law School, Jackson lashed out against four unnamed jurors, accusing them of following their own "agendas"...