Mississippi Burning Trial

[viscousmemories]

It only took 41 years...

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=8852973

PHILADELPHIA, Miss. (Reuters) - Accused Ku Klux Klansman Edgar Ray Killen was found guilty of manslaughter on Tuesday in the 1964 killings of three civil rights workers, a case that outraged much of the country and energized the civil rights movement.

Killen, 80, had been portrayed by prosecutors as a Ku Klux Klan leader who recruited a mob to kill the three young men exactly 41 years ago, on June 21, 1964. The killings in Neshoba County were dramatized in the 1988 movie "Mississippi Burning."

[beyelzu]

well, at least we got one of the fucktards

[MooseIBe]

yeah I read about this in the paper.

This guy's a preacher so presumably he believes in God. How the FUCK can he have lived with himself all these years?

[MooseIBe]

wait hold on a second ... MANSLAUGHTER? why manslaugter?

[livius drusus]

He didn't actually do the deed himself, Moosie. I suppose the jury felt the evidence of his involvement wasn't sufficient to warrant a muder conviction.

I have to say, it felt like a bit of a show trial to me. I don't want to be a big buzzkill or anything and I very much hope the families of the victims feel like some kind of justice has finally been done, but the impression I've gotten from the articles I've read is that they reran the trial from 40 years ago only with a jury of more updated sensibilities.

[viscousmemories]

Originally Posted by livius drusus

He didn't actually do the deed himself, Moosie. I suppose the jury felt the evidence of his involvement wasn't sufficient to warrant a muder conviction.

Some of the jury. According to one article I read the prosecution put manslaughter on the table (using the rationale that maybe Killen ordered a beating, not a murder) because they were afraid the jury would be hung on murder, as they were in 1964. Although in 1964 there was only one hold-out on the jury, and her stated reason for sticking with not-guilty was that she couldn't convict a preacher.

Anyway yeah, this is clearly just a token effort. This dude is on his last leg and I don't think there's any way he's gonna do any hard time before he kicks it. But most of the relatives of the victims seem satisfied that it's better than nothing.

[Clutch Munny]

Yeah, if they didn't get him soon, the only option would have been to perform what the Catholics call a "John Wycliffe" on him...