Senators Leahy, Dodd Join Reps. Lewis And Hulshof
To Reintroduce Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act

Bill Would Reopen Thousands Of Unsolved Civil Rights-Era Criminal Cases

WASHINGTON (February 8) -- Senators Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Representatives John Lewis (D-GA) and Hulshof (R-MO) Thursday reintroduced legislation which would give the Department of Justice and the FBI the ability to reopen Civil Rights-era criminal cases which have gone cold.  The Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act was named after teenager Emmett Till who was murdered and mutilated while on a summer vacation in Money, Mississippi, in 1955. Public outrage surrounding the case helped to propel the inception of the modern-day Civil Rights movement in America.

In many states there are still similar unsolved Civil Rights crimes on the books.  In 1946, a pregnant African-American woman and her husband driving through Monroe, Georgia, were forced from their car by a mob.  They were dragged 50 yards down a wagon trail and shot while a crowd of 200 people watched.  No one was ever charged for these crimes. Recently, the Georgia Association of Black Public Officials urged prosecutors to bring charges in the case. 

“It is critically important that we work to right the wrongs of the past and bring to justice the people who perpetrated heinous crimes based solely on racial hatred,” said Sen. Dodd, who introduced a similar bill last Congress. “While we cannot bring back and make whole those who suffered and died at the hands of racists, we can at least reaffirm our nation’s commitment to seek the truth and work to make equal justice a reality.”

“By shedding light on unsolved civil rights era murders, this bill takes great strides toward ending our nation’s ‘quiet game’ on civil rights murders.  Justice is better served by allowing our nation to acknowledge past wrongs, including wrongs aided by lax law enforcement,” said Leahy, who serves as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  “There is no place for racial violence or political terrorism in a democracy.  We must rededicate ourselves to protecting the full human equality of all Americans.  We start today with this bill that will ensure we do not let the guilty go unpunished or justice be denied.”

“These unsolved murders leave a stain on the integrity of the judicial system in America,” said Rep. John Lewis who was also an original co-sponsor of the first bill and has pushed for reintroduction in this Congress.  “The credibility of the government is in question here.  These lingering unsolved cases lead African Americans and other citizens to wonder whether this nation is truly committed to justice or whether there are times when we find it convenient to look the other way.  That is why it is so important to bring this chapter of our dark past to a close.”

“It is appropriate that we allocate the necessary resources to make sure that justice is served,” stated Rep. Hulshof.  “As a former prosecutor, I believe we must give law enforcement the necessary tools to aggressively seek those who have committed these crimes, regardless of the time that has passed.”

The bill has 57 bi-partisan co-sponsors in the House at last count.  It would create an Unsolved Crimes Section within the Department of Justice, an Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Investigative Office within the FBI, and strengthen coordinated efforts between federal, state, and local law enforcement officers and prosecutors to bring these long-time fugitives to justice.  Both offices will focus on prosecuting cases that occurred prior to 1970 and resulted in the death of the victims that still remain unsolved.  The bill requires annual reporting to Congress on the progress made in these cases and authorizes $11.5 million in annual appropriations to fund these new services.  The Emmet Till Act also provides funding for a Community Relations Service within the DOJ to work with local communities to solve these crimes.

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(Below is Senator Leahy’s statement on introduction of the bill.)

Statement Of Sen. Patrick Leahy,
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee,
On The Introduction Of The Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act
February 8, 2007

Today, I am pleased to join Senator Dodd in reintroducing the Dodd-Leahy Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act.  This bill strengthens the ability of our federal government to investigate and prosecute unsolved murders from the civil rights era. 

I want to thank Senator Dodd for his leadership and commitment to enacting this meaningful civil rights bill.  And I look forward to working with other Senators as this bill moves forward.

I am also very pleased that the Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act once again includes the Missing Child Cold Case Review Act, which I sponsored in the last Congress to provide the investigative expertise of our Inspectors General in reviewing the cold cases of missing children. 

Under current law, an inspector general's duties are limited to activities related to the programs and operations of an agency.  My bill would allow inspectors general to assign criminal investigators to assist in the review of cold case files at National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), so long as doing so would not interfere with normal duties.  I understand that our inspectors general are eager to provide this assistance, and this measure allows them legal authorization to do that.  These cases need resolution.  As parents and grandparents we all know that and, where our government can provide its resources, it should.

The primary thrust of this bill targets murders from the civil rights era.

Nearly fifty-two years ago, the brutal murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American teenager, stirred the conscience of our country.  Young Emmett Till walked into a local country store in Money,

Mississippi, to buy some candy and allegedly whistled at the white store clerk.  That night, two white half-brothers, J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant, kidnapped Emmett Till from his great uncle’s home.  Several days later, his brutally beaten and unrecognizable body was fished out of the nearby Tallahatchie River.  No one was ever punished for this tragic and brutal murder.

Emmett Till’s death served as momentum for change.  It inspired a generation of Americans to demand justice and freedom in a way America had never seen before.  During the Civil Rights Movement, the road to Mississippi became the highway of change for an entire country. 

Yet the movement had a darker side.  Fifty-two years after Emmett Till’s murder, the families of many Americans who lost their lives during the civil rights era are still awaiting justice.  We must not forget their sacrifice.  And one way to honor that sacrifice is acting before the window of time closes.  New evidence of cold cases trickles in while older evidence continues to fade and witnesses age.  We must have a sense of urgency to ensure that justice is rendered.  We cannot afford to wait. 

The Emmett Till Unsolved Crime Act would provide the federal government with much needed tools to expeditiously investigate and prosecute unsolved civil rights era cold cases.  To accomplish this goal, the legislation calls for the creation of new cold case units in the Justice Department and FBI solely dedicated to investigating and prosecuting unsolved cases that involved violations of criminal civil rights statutes, resulting in death, and occurring before January 1, 1970.  This measure also seeks to provide proper coordination between federal officials and state and local government officials on these cases.

This bill ensures that the federal government is held accountable by requiring the Justice Department and FBI cold case units to submit annual reports to Congress describing which cold cases were selected for further investigation and prosecution and which were not. 

By shedding light on unsolved civil rights era murders, I hope this bill will end our nation’s "quiet game" on civil rights murders.  Justice is better served by allowing our entire nation to acknowledge past wrongs, including wrongs aided by lax law enforcement.  Just this week, The Washington Post reported that the briefcase of slain Florida civil rights leader Harry T. Moore, which mysteriously disappeared 55 years ago from a local courthouse, was found in a barn.  We must hold our government officials more accountable.

Progress has been made.  According to a February 4, 2007, article in USA TODAY, entitled “Civil rights-era killers escape justice,” since 1989, authorities in seven states have re-examined 29 killings from the civil rights era and made 28 arrests that led to 22 convictions, including this month’s arrest of former Klansman James Seale for the May 2, 1964, abduction and killings of Henry Hezekiah Dee and Charles Eddie Moore.  

Despite some progress, much remains to be done.  Just how many people died during that period is uncertain.  At the National Civil Rights Memorial in Birmingham, Alabama, is the Civil Rights Memorial Center, where 86 additional names appear on a wall dedicated to the "forgotten others.”  This bill ensures that no sacrifice in the pursuit of freedom goes unnoticed.

Even today, violence or the threat of violence serves as a barrier to full and equal participation in our society.  On January 11, 2007, the NAACP asked the FBI to investigate three recent acts of violence and intimidation against African-American mayors, including shots fired into home of Greenwood, Louisiana's, first black mayor and the mysterious shooting death of Westlake, Louisiana's, first black mayor two days before he was scheduled to take office.  And two days ago the Anti Defamation League, which monitors racist hate groups, released a report showing that “Klan groups have witnessed a surprising and troubling resurgence by exploiting fears of an immigration explosion.”

There is no place for racial violence or political terrorism in a democracy.  We must rededicate ourselves, as a Nation, and as individuals, to protecting the full human equality of all Americans.  We start today by ensuring that the guilty do not go unpunished, or that justice – even if delayed – is denied.  By passing this bill and enacting it into law, we continue our march toward building a more fair and just society.

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