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| Civil rights Cold Cases to be investigated. July, 2007 |
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Get Justice for those who died. |
Support House bill 923 and Senate bill 535
There is no statute of limitation on Murder.
 There is no time limit to prosecute a murder case and now there is a renewed interest in pursuing 40-year old Civil Rights Cold Cases. Unfortunately, many state and local law enforcement agencies don’t have the resources to investigate crimes committed decades ago. Witnesses die or move away, memories fade, evidence is lost or misplaced and politically, some rocks are better left undisturbed.
Yet, the efforts of a few people have generated interest in re-examining the suspicious deaths of over one hundred Black Americans during the Civil Rights era. Currently a bill is circulating through various committees in the U.S. House of Representatives that will give local and state investigators the resources to look under some very ugly rocks.
The bill (HR 923 - the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act) “would create an Unsolved Crimes Section within the Department of Justice and an Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Investigation Office within the FBI. The bill would also strengthen coordinated efforts between federal, state and local law enforcement officers and prosecutors to pursue unsolved civil rights-era cases.”
Emmett Till was a 14-year old teenager from Chicago was savagely murdered in Money, Mississippi in 1955 because he whistled at a white woman. The woman’s husband and brother were charged with the murder but were acquitted by an all-white jury. Both men are now deceased.
A film entitled, “The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till” alleges that there were others involved in the murder and that they are still alive today.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have not been eager to look into the dusty past. But the new push for justice has led Congress to create the Emmett Till Bill that will allow an infusion of 100 million dollars over a ten-year period to search out murderers of Black Americans.
The Southern Poverty law Center has been collecting data on race-related crimes for decades. It sent its files to the FBI to help get a new surge of investigations underway. Here are a few of the 75 unsolved and lesser-known cases:
Banks, Isadore - Marion, Ark., 1954
Banks' charred corpse was found chained to a tree. Black press reports speculated whites that wanted his land killed him. White farmers later rented his property.
Brazier, James - Dawson, Ga., 1958
Brazier was beaten to death in front of his wife and children by two police officers. County Sheriff Z.T. Matthews was later quoted in the Washington Post saying, "There's nothing like fear to keep niggers in line."
Evans, Pheld - Canton, Miss., 1964
Medgar Evers identified Evans as having been killed under mysterious circumstances.
Greene, Mattie - Ringgold, Ga., 1960
Greene is killed when a bomb explodes under her house.
Melton, Clinton - Sumner, Miss., 1956
Elmer Otis Kimbell was cleared in Melton's death. Kimbell claimed Melton fired at him three times before he returned fire with a shotgun. No gun was found in Melton's car or on his body.
Robinson, Johnny - Birmingham, Ala., 1963
A policeman shot Robinson, 16, in the back on the same day as the 16th Street Church bombing. Police said the victim had thrown stones at white youths driving through the area.
Powell, Jimmy - Brooklyn, N.Y., 1964
Powell, 15, was fatally shot by a Brooklyn police officer. The officer's exoneration by a grand jury sparked riots in Harlem.
http://www.splcenter.org/news/item.jsp?sid=88
Contact Chris Carney, House of Representative 10th District and tell him to support this important legislation
Washington D.C. Office
416 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3731
Fax: (202) 225 9594
Williamsport District Office
175 Pine St. Suite 103
Williamsport, PA 17701
Phone: (570) 327-1902
Fax: (570) 327-1904
Or email Congressman Carney at:
http://www.carney.house.gov/contact.shtml#email
| Related links:
For more information on the U.S. Senate version of the proposed legislation (S.535)go to:
Senator Leahy Supports Civil Rights Cold Case bill
For more information about the bill sponsored by Rep. John Lewis. Go to:
Representative John Lewis website
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