'Mississippi Burning' Civil Rights Murder Case Closed After 52 Years

[DonViejo]

Source: Associated Press

By JEFF AMY Published JUNE 21, 2016, 8:06 AM EDT

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — One day short of the 52nd anniversary of three civil rights workers' disappearance during Mississippi's "Freedom Summer," state and federal prosecutors said Monday that the investigation into the slayings is over.

The decision "closes a chapter" in the state's divisive civil rights history, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said.

"The evidence has been degraded by memory over time, and so there are no individuals that are living now that we can make a case on at this point," Hood said.

He said, however, that if new information comes forward because of the announcement that the case is closed, prosecutors could reconsider and pursue a case.

-snip-

Read more: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/mississippi-burning-case-closed

[kairos12]

1. Justice delayed is justice denied.

[malthaussen]

2. I guess there is a statute of limitations...

... on murder after all. A lot of 75-90 year olds are sleeping easier tonight.

-- Mal

[Igel]

4. "there are no individuals that are living now that we can make a case on at this point"

Some dead 75-90 year-olds certainly are. There always has been a statute of limitations.

I think the inference they want us to get to is that they might be able to make a case against some dead people.

That's not for the DA. That's for historians, in the future, looking over the case file, newspaper accounts, and any testimony that's recorded.


There should be a kind of statute of limitations. Memory is faulty. Things get added, forgotten, clarified and changed. Every act of recalling a memory is an act of re-recording that memory. You can block memory formation using certain drugs (not just alcohol). If you test somebody and find that they have clear events of something that happened last week or last year, it's clear that that particular memory's already formed formed. But if you then give them the same memory-blocking drug that would have blocked initial memory formation, that already-stored memory can be made fuzzier, less certain, or even forgotten.

[Solly Mack]

3. :(

[mountain grammy]

5. No, this is just wrong.

Justice denied!

[annominous]

6. No ?!? Mississippi ?!? I'm shocked !!!

Snark aside, I've been boycotting the confederacy for many years now. For me, it's no Kentucky bourbon, no Virginia ham, no Georgia peaches, no Mississippi mud pie, no Tennessee flat top boxes, no exes in Texassistan, no Paula Deen southe'n fried frickin' chicken. There will be no copperhead coupes in my driveway. I will not vacation there, I will not gas up there, and if I have the bad luck to be traveling through some former confederate redstate I will try to hold my breath as long as possible so as not to pollute my lungs with their racist air. I will speak out against the "bless their heart" mean-spirited southern "charm". I abhor all the ways of the old south and the new south and like GW, I won't be fooled again.

When the confederacy worshipers stop their racist ways, and burn their battle flags and their gadsden flags and admit to the world they've been treading on others and getting away with it for decades, and when they elect some progressives to national offices, and reverse their gerrymanders and concede that other people besides them get to have human rights too ... well, that's when I'll call off my personal boycott.

Yes, I know that fellow progressives live in the confederacy and breathe the racist air and need jobs just like everyone else. What I've noticed is that after a few decades of making their concessions, they become apologists for those ways and start speaking with that twang. Yes they still vote blue, but nothing ever changes.

[blackspade]

8. Kentucky was not a Confederate state.

Which is why the Confederates raided it multiple times.

[olddad56]

10. they should have been. I think kentucky aligns more closely with the confederate's lack of values.

I would be willing to bet that as many people from Kentucky fought on the side of the confederacy than on the side of the union.

[blackspade]

11. Not a bet I would take....

Kentucky contributed 75,000 Union troops, 23,000 of which were Black. Some historians put the number closer to 90,000.
There are no firm numbers of Confederate troops from KY but most sources put the number at 30-35,000

KY was never a Confederate state. It started the war neutral but then formally joined the Union in 1861 after it was invaded by the Army of Tennessee. The Confederate government attempted to create a shadow government in Bowling Green, but they never wielded any power within the state.

Your whole premise is not based on facts.

[annominous]

16. With due respect, I think you are confused.

You are responding to olddad56 as if s/he is the Kentucky boycotter.

You have focused on my claim that Kentucky was a confederate state, instead of my main point, which is my personal method for combating racism. Trees. Forest.

Here is a link to a wiki article describing Missouri's status as a confederate state, and likens that situation to Kentucky and Virginia. Yeah, well, Wikipedia.

I find your argument odd. You are trying to invalidate my boycott over a technicality that you seem to view as some kind of game-changing stroke of debate. Kentucky was, at a minimum, a copperhead state and currently is one of the most racist states in the US. Its voters (who love Kynect but are losing Obamacare, because they voted in a tea party guvnah) purposely sent McConnell and Paul to fuel obstruction in the Senate, to keep the peoples' work from being done, and to shrink teh gubmint to drownable size. Six out of 7 of its congressional members are goop or tea party. Forest. Trees.

My point is clear, my boycott stands, and I invite others who despise racism to join with me in injecting some minor penalty on those who engage in it. With a sufficient number of participants, a boycott might make a difference.

[blackspade]

18. You're welcome to boycott whatever you like.

But base it on facts.
Don't base it on erroneous knowledge of the past.
That said, you are valid in your modern critique of the sad state of affairs here in KY.
We have a shitty State party that continually runs terrible candidates who continue to loose against some of the worst offenders in Congress.

[annominous]

13. I boycott Kentucky products.

Like I said, no copperhead coupes in my driveway. Kentucky bourbon has not crossed my lips in years, but I'll buy it again if they Ditch Mitch (and Rand, but Rand is better than Mitch, not saying much though).

Kentucky is currently the Number 7 state for racism link

[blackspade]

15. Number 7 based on what rubric?

A collection of anecdotes?
So I assume that KKK strongholds like IN and IL are on your list as well? What about MI where they are currently poisoning the water of thousands of POC?

The point is that racism is rampant everywhere these days, not just the South.

[annominous]

17. Had you looked through the list

you'd have seen that your reply is unnecessary. Even state number 50 has its detractors.

But here's an idea: find and post a link proving that Kentucky is relatively not very racist at all, that it's like ... number 42 or 49, that it's all good in Kentucky. I'll actually read it.

What do you do to combat racism? Do you have a better plan of action?

Gotta start my day now. I'm willing to discuss this topic (how to combat racism) further if you wish, but I'm not interested in debating nonessential points.

[blackspade]

19. I looked at the link but there is no data to back up the 'list'

My point stands that you can't base an effective boycott on inaccurate data or characatures.
Enjoy your day!

[blackspade]

7. Um, No

"The decision "closes a chapter" in the state's divisive civil rights history, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said."

No, it doesn't. Their divisive race issues continue to this day.

[cynzke]

9. The Case May BE Over In Our Earthly Courts. But Hopefully....

The perpetrators are SOMEWHERE, roasting over this.

[Ken Burch]

12. Seems appropriate to post these songs in response to this news;

[Ash_F]

14. ...

?w=500