THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S 


FIRST ANNUAL REPORT TO CONGRESS 


PURSUANT TO THE EMMETT TILL 


UNSOLVED CIVIL RIGHTS CRIME ACTOF 2007 


APRIL 7,2009 

This report is submitted pursuant to the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 

2007, regarding the activities ofthe Department ofJustice (DOJ or the Department) under the 

Act. This initial report covers activities predating the Act, which was signed into law on October 

7,2008, and the six months since its enactment.! 

1. THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE'S EFFORTS TO INVESTIGATE 

AND PROSECUTE UNSOLVED CIVIL RIGHTS ERA HOMICIDES 

A. Overview and Background 

The Department of Justice fully supports the goals ofthe Emmett Till Unsolved Civil 

Rights Crime Act of2007. For more than 50 years, the Department of Justice has been 

instrumental in bringing justice to some ofthe nation's horrific civil rights era crimes. These 

crimes occurred during a terrible time in our nation's history when some people viewed their 

fellow Americans as inferior, and as threats, based only on the color of their skin. The 

Department of Justice believes that racially motivated murders from the civil rights era constitute 

some of the greatest blemishes upon our history. As such, the Department stands ready to lend 

our assistance, expertise, and resources to assist in the investigation and possible prosecution of 

these matters. 

Unfortunately, federal jurisdiction over these historic cases is limited. The Ex Post Facto 

Clause of the Constitution and federal statutory law have limited the Department's ability to 

prosecute most civil rights era cases at the federal level. For example, two ofthe most important 

federal statutes that can be used to prosecute racially motivated homicides, 18 U.S.C. § 245 

(interference with federally protected activities) and 42 U.S.C. § 3631 (interference with housing 

rights), were not enacted until 1968. Under the Ex Post Facto Clause, these statutes cannot be 

applied retroactively to conduct that was not a crime at the time of the offense. Moreo"ver, the 

five-year statute of limitations on federal criminal civil rights charges presents another limitation 

on such prosecutions.2 

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Pub. L. 110 - 344 (2008). The Act requires the Attorney General to annually conduct a study 

and report to Congress not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act, and each year 

thereafter. Among other issues, the study and report is required to discuss the number of open 

investigations within the Department for violations of criminal civil rights statutes that occurred not later 

than December 31, 1969, and resulted in a death. The Act also requires the report to discuss any 

applications submitted for grants under section 5, the award of any grants, and the purposes for which 

any grant amount was expended. Additionally, the Act requires the Attorney General to designate a 

Deputy Chief in the Criminal Section of the Civil Rights Division to coordinate the investigation and 

prosecution of these criminal cases, and authorizes the Deputy Chief to coordinate investigative activities 

with State and local law enforcement officials. 

2 In 1994, death-resulting violations of 18 U.S.C. § 242 (civil rights violations committed under 

color oflaw) and 18 U.S.C. § 245 (interference with federally protected activities) became capital 

offenses; as capital offenses, these statutes are no longer subject to a statute ·of limitations. However, 

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In addition, there are certain difficulties inherent in these cold cases: subjects die; , 

witnesses die or can no longer be located; memories become clouded, evidence is destroyed. 

Even with our best efforts, investigations into historic cases are exceptionally difficult, and 

justice in many of these cases will never be reached inside of a courtroom. Notwithstanding 

these legal and factual limitations, the Department believes that the federal government can still 

play an important role in these cases. 

The Department has always been willing to reassess and review cold cases when new 

evidence came to light, and, as set forth below, played a major role in: successfully prosecuting 

three such cold cases prior to the Cold Case Initiative. In order to further the Department's 

mission, in 2006, the FBI began its Cold Case Initiative to identify and investigate the murders 

committed during our nation's civil tights era. 

In October, 2008, the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil.Rights Crime Act of 2007 was signed 

into law, directing the Department to designate aDeputy Chief in the Civil Rights Division to 

coordinate the investigation and prosecution of civil rights era homicides, and a Supervisory 

Special Agent in the FBI's Civil Rights Unit to investigate those cases. The Civil Rights 

Division and the FBI were also given the authority to coordinate their activities with State and 

local law enforcement officials. For fiscal years 2008 through 2017, the Act authorized 

$10,000,000 per year to the Attorney General, to be allocated as appropriate by the Department's 

Civil Rights Division and the FBI; $2,000,000 per year for grants to State or local law 

enforcement agencies f0r expenses associated with the investigation and prosecution by them of 

civil rights era homicides; and $1,500,000 per year to the Community Relations Service of the 

Department to bring together law enforcement agencies and communities in the investigation of 

these cases.3 

B. Pre-Cold Case Initiative Efforts 

For many years now, the Department has played an important role in the investigation and 

prosecution of civil rights era homicides, notwithstanding the constitutional and jurisdictional 

limitations noted above.· Even prior to launching the Cold Case Initiative in 2006, the 

Department was able to play an important - indeed, essential - role in three successful cold case 

prosecutions. 

For example, in 1997, the FBI reopened the investigation into the 1963 bombing ofthe 

even death-resulting civil rights violations which occurred prior to 1994 are governed by the thenexisting five-year statute of limitations. 

3As ofyet, funds authorized by this Act have not been appropriated; thus, the Department is 

meeting its obligations under this project by shifting resources from other important civil rights 

programs, projects, and prosecutions. 

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Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Civil Rights Division attorneys 

worked with the United States Attorney for the Northern District ofAlabama in conducting a 

grand jury investigation. We were able to assume federal jurisdiction because a predecessor 

statute to the current arson and explosives statute, 18 U.S.C. § 844, provided that in situations 

where death resulted from an explosive transported in interstate commerce, the penalty was 

death, and under 18 U.S.C. § 3281, crimes punishable by death have no statute oflimitations. 

Ultimately, we could not prove that the explosive traveled in interstate commerce, so we released 

the grand jury investigation to the State ofAlabama, which used that investigation as the basis 

for a successful prosecution ofthe last two defendants who were involved in the bombing. The 

United States Attorney for the Northern District ofAlabama, Doug Jones, was cross:-designated 

to serve as the lead prosecutor in the state trials. Thus, this case - which was investigated by 

federal agents and a federal grand jury, and ultimately successfully prosecuted by a federal 

prosecutor in state court - provides a perfect example ofthe Department's efforts to find creative 

ways to pursue civil rights era cases. 

In 1999, the Civil Rights Division and the United States Attorney's Office for the 

Southern District of Mississippi reopened the investigation into the 1966 murder ofBen Chester 

White, an elderly African-American farm worker, by Ernest Henry Avants, a Mississippi 

Klansman. Avants, along with two other men, lured White to Pretty Creek Bridge in the 

Homochitto National Forest outside ofNatchez, Mississippi. Once there, White was shot 

multiple times with an automatic weapon, and also was shot in the head with a single barrel 

shotgun. Following the killing, which was intended to lure Dr. Martin Luther King to the area, 

White's body was thrown off the bridge. His bullet ridden body was discovered several days 

later. A 1967 state prosecution for murder resulted in an acquittal for Avants and a mistrial for 

another defendant who is now deceased. A third defendant, also now deceased, was never 

prosecuted by state officials. The Justice Department opened an investigation into the death of· 

White in 1999, using a federal statute that prohibits murder on federal property, 18 U.S.C. § 

1111. Avants was indicted in June 2000, convicted in February 2003 and sentenced to life in 

prison in June 2003. 

Another matter in which federal resources contributed to the conviction of a civil rights 

era murderer involved the reopened investigation into the 1964 the murder ofthree civil rights 

workers in Philadelphia, Mississippi - an incident commonly known today as the "Mississippi 

Burning" case. At the time of the murders, the Assistant Attorney General ofthe Civil Rights 

Division, John Doar, personally led the investigation and prosecution ofthese murders. Despite 

facing extraordinary hurdles,. he was able to secure the convictions of 7 ofthe 18 defendants 

charged with these murders; however, they received sentences ranging from just 4 to 10 years of 

imprisonment. One ofthe ringleaders, Ku Klux Klan member Edgar Ray Killen, was acquitted 

because one of the jury members refused to convict a "preacher." The Department, however, 

remained committed to ensuring that Justice eventually prevailed in that case. The FBI worked 

with local law enforcement and provided invaluable assistance on the reopened investigation, 

which resulted in the indictment of Killen on three counts ofstate murder charges on January 6, 

2005. Killen was finally convicted on June 21,2005 for three counts ofmanslaughter for his 

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involvement in the case. The then-80-year-old Killen was sentenced to twenty years for each 

count, to be served consecutively. 

These three cold case prosecutions represent the three different models in which the 

Department of Justice has dedicated its resources to the investigation and prosecution of civilrights era crimes:. 1) non-civil rights federal statutes, such as the federal murder statute, have 

been used to successfully prosecute the perpetrators in federal court; 2) a federal prosecutor has 

been cross-designated to serve as a prosecutor using a federal investigation in a successful State 

trial when the evidence fails to establish federal jurisdiction; 3) federal and local investigators 

have jointly investigated and provided assistance to a State prosecutor in a successful State 

prosecution. 

II. THE COLD CASE INITIATIVE 

A. Overview 

In order to further the Department's commitment to investigating and prosecuting civil 

rights era homicides, the FBI in 2006 began its Cold Case Initiative (the Initiative) to identify and 

investigate the murders committed during the civil rights era. Each of the 56 field offices was 

directed to identify cases within its jurisdiction that might warrant inclusion on a list of cold 

cases meriting additional investigation. In 2007, the FBI announced the next phase of this 

initiative, which includes a partnership with the National Association for the Advancement of 

Colored People (NAACP), the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), and the National Urban 

League to identify possible additional cases for investigation and to solicit their assistance with 

already identified matters. . 

B. Prosecutions 

This Cold Case Initiative, which is ongoing, has resulted in another successful federal 

prosecution. This case involved the 1964 murders of 19-year-old Charles Moore and Henry Dee, 

in Franklin County, Mississippi. On May 2, 1964, James Ford Seale and other members of the 

Ku Klux Klan forced Moore and Dee into a car and drove the teenagers into the Homochitto 

National Forest. Mistakenly believing that Dee was a member of the Black Panthers and that he 

was bringing guns into the county, the Klansmen beat the boys while interrogating them about 

the location of the weapons. In order to stop the beating, the boys falsely confessed, telling the 

Klansmen that guns were stored in a nearby church. The Klansmen then split into two groups. 

One group went to search the church for the guns. The other group, including Seale, transported 

the victims acr.pss state lines, into Louisiana, and then back into Mississippi to a remote location 

on the Mississippi River. Moore and Dee, bound and gagged, were chained to a Jeep engine 

block and railroad ties, and were taken by Seale out onto the water in a boat, and were pushed 

overboard to their deaths. Their severely decomposed bodies were found months later. 

Seale and another Klansmen, Charles Edwards, were arrested on state murder charges in 

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late 1964, but the charges were later dropped. The Civil Rights Division and the United States 

Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Mississippi reopened an investigation into the 

murders in 2006. The new investigation revealed evidence that supported a federal prosecution 

under the federal kidnaping statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1201. Edwards, who was in the group of 

Klansmen who searched the church, but who did not participate in the actual murders, was 

granted immunity and testified against Seale, the only other surviving participant. Seale was 

indicted in January 2007, and convicted in June 2007, oftwo' counts of kidnaping and one count 

of conspiracy. He was sentenced to three life terms. Although his conviction was reversed on 

appeal on a legal technicality involving the statute of limitations, the Fifth Circuit has granted en 

banc review, and oral arguments are set for mid-May 2009. In the meantime, Seale remains in 

custody. 

C. Ongoing Outreach Efforts 

As part ofthe Department's efforts to uncover relevant information regarding our 

unsolved civil rights era homicides, we have reached out to the community in almost 

unprecedented ways, meeting with NGOs, law professors, journalists,' and film makers. For 

example,· senior officials with the Department and the FBI have met with representatives from 

the NAACP, SPLC, and the National Urban League, and we anticipate further bi-annual 

meetings with these organizations during the co,urse ofthe Initiative ..The purpose ofthese 

meetings is threefold: 1) to encourage those organizations to reach out to their field offices and to 

try to obtain information on cold cases; 2) to provide the organizations with updates on our 

progress; and 3) to educate these organizations on the scope ofthe Cold Case Initiative and the 

impediments that we face in pursuing these matters. . 

In addition, the Department has proactively reached out to all ofthe United States 

Attorneys' Offices in districts in which there are open cold cases, notifying them ofthe cases in 

their districts and seeking their assistance. 

In November, 2008, moreover, Department officials, along with the Director and staff of 

the Community Relations Service, met with a number of key supporters ofthe Cold Case 

Initiative, including the Chairman ofthe Emmett Till Justice Campaign, and the brother ofslain 

civil rights worker James Chaney to update them on the status ofthe Department's cold case 

work. We also discussed: (1) how their coalition could help law enforcement find witnesses, 

especially those who emigrated north; (2) how their coalition might assist in providing 

psychological comfort and closure to victims; (3) what their coalition can do to otherwise 

facilitate the Initiative; and (4) how the Community Relations Service could assist in facilitating 

community forums that would bring together community, family and law enforcement officials to 

reduce racial tensions that might evolve durin.g the investigation ofthese cold cases. We expect 

these productive dialogues with these groups to continue throughout the Initiative. 

Other participants in that November 2008 meeting were professors from the Syracuse 

University College ofLaw, which has been active in issues related to civil rights era matters. 

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The Syracuse law school founded a Cold Case Justice Initiative (CCJI) project in response to the 

unsolved 1964 murder in Ferriday, Louisiana of shoe shop owner Frank Morris, who suffered 

fatal bums when his store was set on fire, presumably by members of the Ku Klux Klan. On a 

previous occasion, the United States Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, other 

representatives from his office and from the FBI, and a representative from the Civil Rights 

Division met with one of the Syracuse law professors and a local investigative reporter regarding 

the Morris matter. Under the supervision of the professors, Syracuse University College of Law 

students have researched thousands of documents related to the Morris matter and other cold 

cases in that geographic area. As a result of our alliance, the professors have generously 

provided the Department with the results of the research conducted by their students.4 

The Department has also met with journalists to seek input, ideas, and possible leads. For 

instance, we have reached out to the Cold Case Truth and Justice Project, a multi-partner, 

multi-platform effort focused on the unresolved history of the South during the civil rights era, 

seeking any information that it may have relevant to cold cases. Among the participants in that 

project are investigative reporters from Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, who are vigorously 

investigating the matters in their respective regions. Another participant in that project is a 

documentary film maker from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, who provided the 

Department with invaluable information during the investigation and successful prosecution of 

the James Ford Seale case.5 We are hopeful that they, too, will be willing to share information 

from their investigations with us as we go forward. 

In another attempt to utilize the resources ofthe media, in January 2009, the Department 

sponsored ajoint press conference held by representatives from the FBI, the Civil Rights 

Division, the United States Attorneys and other prosecutors from the Northern and Southern 

Districts of Mississippi, senior officials from the United States Marshals Service, and the 

Mississippi Attorney General. During this press conference, the Department released the names 

of the victims whose murder cases are currently under review in the state of Mississippi, 

provided a phone number for a cold case hotline, and asked for citizen assistance in solving these 

cnmes. 

In addition to these efforts, the Department is reaching out to local civH rights 

organizations and participating in conferences in an effort to encourage the active assistance of 

these groups. For example, an official from the FBI recently participated in the Mississippi Civil 

4It should be noted that the Department is continuing to vigorously pursue the Morris murder 

case. In conjunction with that effort, the FBI has offered $10,000 in reward money for information 

leading to an indictment in the Morris matter. 

5An FBI official was also interviewed by another film maker for a documentary on another 

particularly egregious cold case - the murder of10hnnieMae Chappell, and African-American mother of 

ten who was gunned down by a car full of white men as she walked along the side ofthe road searching 

for her wallet. At the end of the documentary, which au·ed on the History channel in February, 2009, the 

film maker provided an FBI phone number for viewers to call with information related to any cold cases. 

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Rights Veterans Conference in Jackson, Mississippi, where the official met with journalists, 

veterans ofthe civil rights movement, and others to discuss issues related to cold cases. 

Similarly, officials from the FBI and the Civil Rights Division jointly participated in a two-day 

conference in Momoe, Georgia, sponsored by the Moore's Ford Memorial Committee. During 

that conference, officials participated in a panel discussion and met with community members, 

civil rights veterans, local law enforcement, jury consultants, and others in an attempt to reinvigorate the Moore's Ford investigation, which focuses on the lynching of two AfricanAmerican couples on the Moore's Ford bridge in 1946. 

The Department of Justice will remain involved in other outreach programs, and it hopes 

that as a result of the publicity generated by these programs, other leads may develop. At a 

minimum, we believe that our demonstrated commitment already has provided the communities 

with the assurance that they are being heard and thatthe Department is doing everything possible 

to bring closure on these important cases. 

III.. COLD CASE STUDY AND REPORT 

As set forth above, the Department's efforts to investigate and prosecute unsolved civil 

rights era homicide cases predate the EIhniett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act. During the 

course ofthe Department's focus on these matters, we have opened 107 matters for review. 

Eleven of those matters have been opened within the past six months. The potential impact of 

the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act cannot yet be measured. We are hopeful that 

funding will be appropriated to support the Act, and that our Report next year will reflect a 

resulting increased ability to address the goals of this important legislation. 

Thus far, our efforts have resulted in two successful federal prosecutions, and two 

successful state prosecutions, all of which are described in detail above. The first federal case 

was United States v. Avants, 367 F.3d 433 (5th Cir. 2004), which was indicted in the Southern 

District ofMississippi in June, 2000. Avants was convicted in February, 2003, and sentenced to 

life in prison. The second federal case was United States v. James Ford Seale, which was 

indicted in the Southern District of Mississippi in January, 2007. Seale was convicted in June, 

2007, and sentenced to three life terms. 

The first successful federally-assisted state prosecution was the Sixteenth Street Church 

bombing case. Charges were filed against defendants Thomas Blanton and Bobby Cherry in 

Birmingham, Alabama, in May, 2000. Defendant Blanton was convicted in April, 2001, and 

sentenced to four life terms; Cherry was convicted in May, 2002, and sentenced to four life 

terms. The second successful federally-assisted state prosecution was the State ofMississippi v. 

Edgar Ray Killen. Charges were filed against Killen in Philadelphia, Mississippi, in January, 

.2005; he was convicted of three counts ofmanslaughter in June, 2005, and was sentenced to 60 .. . years In pnson. 

There are three matters thus far which have been referred to state authorities or for which 

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the Department has shared relevant information from its investigation with state authorities. In 

each ofthose matters, the FBI is lending assistance to local law enforcement officials. In one of 

those matters, State charges have been filed against then-Alabama State Trooper James Bonard 

Fowler for the 1965 murder ofJimmie Lee Jackson in Marion, Alabama. The murder of 

Jackson, an unarmed civil rights protester, was one ofthe events which led to the Selma to 

Montgomery marches. In May, 2007, Fowler was charged with murder in Marion, Alabama. His 

October, 2008 trial date was vacated, and the court has not yet set a new trial date. 

Ofthe 107 matters opened as part ofthe Department's review of civil rights era 

homicides, the Department, has thus far made a decision to close 14 matters without federal 

prosecution. However, we are awaiting contact information for identifiable next-of-kin to the 

victims for 12 ofthose matters so that we may notify them of our decision. Because that 

notification has not yet taken place, in deference to the family members ofthe victims, we have 

not identified these matters in this report, but expect to include them in our next annual report. 

The following two matters were closed on April 3,2009: In re: Clarence Pershing Cloninger; 

and In re: William D. Owens. In both matters, our review revealed no viable federal statutory 

basis for prosecution. 

Since January, 2007, at least 40 federal prosecutors have worked on cases under review as 

part ofthe Department's Cold Case Initiative and the EmmettTill Unsolved Civil Rights Crime 

Act of 2007. Although no matters are currently under federal indictment, several cases have 

been identified as potentially viable prosecutions at either the state or federal level. The 

resources involved in a viable prosecution are enormous. More than 40 federal employees 

participated in the Seale prosecution alone. That number does not include the numerous retired 

federal employees, local law enforcement officials, or contract employees who provided 

additional assistance. 

The Department has received no applications for grants from State or local law 

enforcement agencies for expenses associated with the investigation and prosecution of criminal 

offenses, involving civil rights, that occurred not later than December 31, 1969, and resulted in a 

death. 6 

6 It should be noted that the Department has received no funding to support these grants; thus, no 

grants have been given. 

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