A police officer who questionably arrested a high school student on "terrorizing" charges cannot be sued in connection with the incident, a federal court recently ruled. But the decision making that official—along with a fiery dissenting opinion—shows how some facets of criminal justice reform do not have to be partisan.
In February 2018, Lennon Betancourt, a student at Grace King High School in Metairie, Louisiana, was pictured next to a cartoon caricature of himself labeled "Future School Shooter." Though there was perhaps cause for alarm at first glance, the benign circumstances behind the photo became clear shortly thereafter: Betancourt's health teacher, Guy Farber, had been teaching a lesson about school shootings and said that the "typical" culprit was a "white male." Betancourt was the only one in class who fit that bill, culminating in a crass but harmless exchange where students jested that he should spare them from any violent spree. A peer drew the picture, and Betancourt posed with it, while Farber played along with the joke.
