Murder in Mississippi
Subtitle: United States v. Price and the struggle for civil rights
By: Howard Ball.
Series: Landmark law cases & American society
Publisher: University Press of Kansas
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Lawrence, Kan
Language: eng
Number of pages: 171
Subjects: Goodman, Andrew, -- 1943-1964; Chaney, James Earl, -- 1943-1964; Schwerner, Michael Henry, -- 1939-1964; Trials (Murder) -- Mississippi; Murder -- Mississippi -- Neshoba County -- History -- 20th century; Civil rights workers -- Crimes against -- Mississippi -- Neshoba County -- History -- 20th century
Description: Few episodes in the modern civil rights movement were more galvanizing or more memorialized than the brutal murders of Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James Chaney--idealists eager to protect and promote the rights of black Americans, even in the deep and very dangerous South. In films like Mississippi Burning and popular folk songs, these young men have been venerated as martyrs. Even so, the landmark legal dimensions of their murder case have until now remained largely lost. Howard Ball reminds us just how problematic the prosecution of the murderers--all members of the KKK--actually was. When the State of Mississippi failed to indict them, the U.S. tried to prosecute the case in federal district court. The judge there, however, ruled that the federal government had no jurisdiction. When the U.S. appealed, the Supreme Court unanimously overturned the lower court decision, claiming that federal authorities did indeed have the power to police civil rights violations in any state. United States v. Price (1967) thus produced a landmark decision that signaled a seismic shift in American legal history and race relations, for it meant that local authorities could no longer shield racist lawbreakers. Ball weaves the tales of victims and perpetrators into a single compelling story in which the legal process becomes as much personal as political.--From publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 159-162) and index.
Table of contents: title: Driving on Highway 19 to Philadelphia, Mississippi; title: Genesis : Mississippi and the struggle for racial equality; title: COFO's "Mississippi freedom summer" project : the battle line is drawn; title: Informants and indictments; title: U.S. v. Price in the U.S. Supreme Court; title: The trial in Federal District Court; title: Is there justice in Mississippi?