WASHINGTON–Legislation that would empower the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute civil rights-era crimes has been signed into law. The bill, known as the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, was named after an African- American
WASHINGTON–Legislation that would empower the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute civil rights-era crimes has been signed into law.
The bill, known as the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, was named after an African- American teenager from Chicago who was mutilated and murdered for allegedly whistling at a white woman while on a summer vacation in Money, Miss., in 1955. The case remains unsolved today, and his death helped propel the modern Civil Rights Movement.
After passing the House 422-2 in June 2007, the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act passed the Senate by unanimous consent on Sept. 24 and was signed Oct. 7 by President George W. Bush.
The unprecedented bill authorizes the attorney general to spend $10 million annually over 10 years to investigate and prosecute cold cases from past years.
Deborah J. Vagins of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Legislative Counsel said the bill comes at a time when “witnesses and suspects are aging and physical evidence may be scant” but proves that justice will be delayed and not denied in the resolution of civil rights crimes and violations.
Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., echoed Vagins’ sentiments and said the bill reinforces the strength of America’s justice system. Today’s enactment of the Emmett Till bill is long overdue,” said Dodd, a sponsor. “While this legislation cannot change the past or heal the wounds caused by senseless crimes of racial hatred, it can help restore faith in our justice system. And to those who perpetrated these heinous crimes and still walk the streets as free members of society, the enactment of this law should send a message that they will not escape the hand of justice.”
The law would designate a deputy chief in the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ and a supervisory special agent in the Civil Rights Unit of the FBI, who will coordinate local, state and federal efforts in bringing longtime fugitives to justice in crimes committed before 1970.
Special to the NNPA from the Afro-American Newspapers
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