The victim of a beating that stirred civil rights demonstrations in Jena, La., has reached a settlement in a civil case against the LaSalle Parish school board.
The settlement is the last matter expected in the “Jena Six” case, in which six black students were charged with the beating of a white schoolmate. School board lawyer Lottie Bash said last week that the board and Justin Barker, the victim, had reached an undisclosed agreement. Ms. Bash said the school board denied any liability in the case, but felt it was time to wrap up the incident.
The students were originally charged with attempted murder in the case, which sparked protests by civil rights leaders who said the harshness of the charge was because the defendants were black and Mr. Barker was white.
