Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
1401 New York Avenue, NW
Suite 400
Washington, DC 20005

For Immediate Release
Contacts:
Kim Alton
(202) 662-8600
June 20, 2007

Lawyers' Committee Announces Support for Bill Aimed at Solving Civil Rights Era Murder Cases

(Washington, DC) - On June 18th, 2007, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law announced its support for the “Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act,” a federal bill aimed at investigating and prosecuting civil rights era murder cases. Representative John Lewis submitted the measure, which has now been approved by the House Committee on the Judiciary. The Lawyers' Committee recently sent letters to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and other congressional leaders to urge passage of the bill by June 21, 2007.

The date of June 21st represents the forty-third anniversary of the murders of three civil rights workers in Mississippi. Their killer roamed free for several decades before finally being convicted on June 21, 2005. The Lawyers' Committee is asking that Congress once again mark this historic day by passing the Unsolved Crimes Act.

The legislation assigns officers within the Justice Department the task of investigating and prosecuting civil rights murders that occurred prior to 1970. To carry out their duties, Congress would provide $11.5 million in annual funds. The bill is expected to assist the Justice Department in their ongoing investigations, which have already resulted in the convictions of several civil rights era murderers, including James Ford Seale on June 14, 2007.

In an official letter to congressional leaders, Lawyers' Committee Chief Counsel John Brittain wrote, “[Before 1970], civil rights murder cases that went to trial often ended in hung juries. However, today, different attitudes and improved race relations could result in color-blind justice, and technological advancements could allow prosecutors to present more persuasive evidence at trial.”

At a recent House subcommittee hearing, Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers, testified in support of the legislation. Her husband was murdered in 1963, and three decades later, a jury convicted 74 year old Byron de la Beckwith of the murder, proof that justice knows no time limitations. If Congress approves the bill, and President George Bush signs it into law, countless similar families who have waited for decades to see justice may finally find closure.

The Lawyers' Committee will continue to monitor the progress of the “Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act” in hopes of seeing its immediate passage and enactment.


The Lawyers' Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofit civil rights legal organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to provide legal services to address racial discrimination.

For more information on the Lawyers' Committee, visit us at www.lawyerscommittee.org



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