Good - he deserves his medical bills paid, and some damages money!
Beating victim's family sues in 'Jena Six' caseThis photo released by the LaSalle Parish District Attorney's Office shows Justin Barker in the hospital after he was beaten on Dec. 4, 2006 in Jena, La.
JENA, La. — The family of a white student allegedly beaten by six black classmates in rural Louisiana has filed a civil lawsuit against the teens' parents, the adult teens, an additional student and the local school board.
The six black teens already face criminal charges in the case, which sparked one of the largest civil rights marches in recent history.
David, Kelli and Justin Barker allege in the civil suit that seven Jena High School students attacked Justin on Dec. 4, 2006, as he walked out of the school's gym headed to another class.
The suit names the attackers as the "Jena Six" students — Mychal Bell, Bryant Purvis, Robert Bailey Jr., Carwin Jones, Theo Shaw and Jesse Beard — as well as Malcolm Shaw, Theo's brother. Law enforcement officials have not named Malcolm as one of the attackers.
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"Petitioners show that Justin was singled out by Mychal, Bryant, Robert, Carwin, Theodore, Malcolm and Jesse, and that the malicious and willful attack of Justin was of such extreme nature, so as to require emergency medical care and treatment for the harm inflicted by the attack, and resulting in extensive and permanently disabling injuries," the lawsuit states.
Barker was hit by Bell, knocked unconscious and then repeatedly kicked and stomped by a group of students, according to court testimony by Bell and court documents. Barker's medical bills from his emergency room visit alone were more than $5,000.
The beating was preceded by several racial incidents, including three white students hanging nooses from a tree.
The civil suit, filed Nov. 29 in the LaSalle Parish Clerk of Court office, charges each of the alleged attackers except Bell and Beard, who were juveniles at the time of the incident.
The lawsuit alleges that the LaSalle Parish School Board, through its employees, was not adequately supervising students and maintaining discipline and did not assign enough teachers for supervision.
The Barkers also claim the school board did not implement a plan to "discourage the dangerous activity of threatening and attacking other students while in possession of actual knowledge of said threats and prior attacks while the students are on school grounds."
Lawyers for the Barkers and the defendants couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Bell pleaded guilty in juvenile court Monday to the attack and was sentenced to 18 months in the custody of the Office of Youth Development. The other Jena Six students are awaiting court appearances.
Bell and the other students were initially charged with attempted murder.
In May, Bell was convicted as an adult of aggravated assault, but the conviction was overturned in September by a state appeals court, which ruled Bell's case should be handled in juvenile court.
The conviction led to a protest by at least 20,000 demonstrators from around the country, who descended on Jena in September.
