The Barker family has brought the civil suit to cover what their attorneys say is more than $19,000 in medical costs. These costs are still mounting since Justin Barker, the victim in the Jean Six attack, is still being treated for injuries to his eye. The Barkers' attorney also hope to be awarded punitive damages from the hundred of thousands of dollars donated to the Jena Six defense fund.

The Jena Six defense fund isn't theirs to use to pay. Since it's fairly obvious that Jena is not a well-to-do town, getting an actual award from the boys (5 attacked him physically and any attempt to prove conspiracy on the part of others will fail in court) will not happen and I'm not sure if there's a legal basis for suing parents over the activities of their children in a school setting where they can't be found negligent for their children's actions. IF this suit is successful and the court awards him punitive damages, chances are that a bulk of it will be from the boys meaning he will probably never see that money.

Of such "extreme nature"? Are these things that rare? I seem to recall seeing several serious fights on the local news. Racially charged cases are just more news worthy.

The family haven't even denied that he was only in the hospital for 2 hours after this attack. And went to a party after leaving the hospital. I think its ashame to have so much legal involvment for a high school fight. Yes the victim should be stuck with medical bills but I think this is a bit much.

I meant "Victim should NOT be stuck"

Yeah. The fact that he was allowed to leave after 2 hours in the ER makes me question the 19K in medical bills. It's perfectly possible that the physicians were negligent in releasing him though. Apparently, the party was a big deal but that would be the last thing I'd be thinking about even I just got my a– slightly beat.

The 19k is the ER and follow-up appointments, etc. They obviously have no health insurance. Also some insurers will not cover you if you are beat up. They will almost force you to sue the person who beat you up so that you can pay your bills. The same goes for car wrecks. If you are in a car wreck, chance is your health insurance doesn't cover you, but your car insurance does. Who has "ass kick" insurance? No one reads the fine print of their health insurance booklets!

Justin Barker's injuries will not be much of an issue in the civil suit. The family's attorneys will merely present the hospital bills and, if necessary, call doctors to testify. Although some of the money collected appears to be unaccounted for, most of it has been placed in a fund jointly controlled by the Jena Six defendants' families. The Bakers' lawyers told the Shreveport Times that damages could be paid from this fund. The court will probably ordered these funds frozen, if it hasn't already done so. Although the Bakers have requested a jury trial, the civil suit will probably be settled out of court.

"Extreme" or "serious" in a legal context applies to virtually any injury that requires medical treatment. If you hit someone and bloody their nose, you might be charged with simple battery; if an ambulance has to be called to take your victim to the hospital, you would probably be charged with second-degree battery. No lawyer is going to have any trouble persuading a jury that $19,000 in medical bills is a indication of an extreme or severe injuries.

Honestly..if somebody did that to me, I would sue too.

Honestly..if somebody did that to me, I would sue too. They probably don't have health insurance hence the 19K

If they don't have health insurance, I can understand it. Because managed care plans negotiate very low rates (not in your eyes, but they are indeed low) with hospital, people without health insurance get a very inflated bill. The difference also pays for delinquent former patients who don't qualify for any government programs.

Still, if they did have insurance but the insurance didn't cover this due to the cause of injury, the rates would still be the negotiated ones so it'd maybe ring up to $4K if they had insurance.

It is not anything wrong with justin he still can ride around in that big ugly truck he can see well enough to drive so I do not beleive it is not that serious to sue because he is jealous because he is not getting any attention and he is a lame ass country boy

He should sue. He was blind sided and beaten by six thugs. It does not matter the extent of his injuries, the kid was beaten for no other reason then for being white. You know, I know it.

But what do we get, 20,000 blacks screaming about justice for 6 thugs, instead of 20,000 blacks denounce hate violence against the white kid.

The black community, it seems, likes to prop up the villians and offer protection to criminals. Why?