FORD
06-23-2005, 12:14 PM
Ex-Klansman gets 60 years for 1964 killings of civil rights workers
PHILADELPHIA, Mississippi (CNN) -- A Mississippi judge Thursday sentenced former Ku Klux Klansman Edgar Ray Killen to 60 years in prison for the manslaughter of three civil rights workers in 1964.
Killen, 80, was convicted on three counts of manslaughter Tuesday, 41 years to the day a Klan mob ambushed and killed the civil rights workers -- James Chaney, 21; Andrew Goodman, 20; and Michael Schwerner, 24.
Circuit Court Judge Marcus Gordon said Thursday that he took no pleasure in pronouncing the sentence of three consecutive 20-year terms, the maximum allowed under law.
The judge said he knew some would disagree with his decision which, at Killen's advanced age, amounts to a life sentence in prison. But Gordon said each of the dead mens' lives had equal value, and the law does not adjust sentence terms based on a defendant's age.
Sounds like this judge might wear a different colored robe when he's off duty..... I wouldn't give this fucking piece of garbage any sympathy for his age. He's a hateful murderer. Period.
The "Freedom Summer" killings helped galvanize the civil rights movement, leading to major reforms in access to voting, education and public accommodations.
On Tuesday, a jury of nine whites and three blacks decided on the manslaughter convictions after several hours of deliberations. The convictions were on a lesser charge; prosecutors had charged Killen with murder.
Defense attorney James McIntyre has said he will appeal the convictions, The Associated Press reported. The defense contends the jury should not have been allowed to consider manslaughter. Circuit Court Judge Marcus Gordon will hear a motion for a new trial on Monday, the AP reported.
Goodman's mother, Carolyn Goodman, 89, said Tuesday she had waited a long time for a guilty verdict, but it was "nothing to be happy about."
"I'm just overcome. ... But you know I had a feeling it was going to happen," she said.
"I just hope he's off the streets," she said of Killen. "I don't want anything more terrible than that. I don't want anything violent. I'm against capital punishment."
Schwerner's widow, Rita Bender, said, "I would hope that this case is just the beginning and not the end."
She acknowledged that the case likely became a high-profile one because Schwerner and Goodman were white New Yorkers who came to the South the summer of 1964 with hundreds of other volunteers to register black voters. Chaney was a black man from Mississippi.
Neshoba County District Attorney Mark Duncan said the verdict means his county will no longer "be known by a Hollywood movie anymore," referring to the 1988 film "Mississippi Burning" based on the killings.
On June 21, 1964, Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner were on their way to investigate the burning of a black church when they were briefly taken into custody for speeding.
According to testimony, the Klan had burned the church to lure the three men back to Neshoba County.
After they were released from the county jail in Philadelphia, a KKK mob tailed their car, forced it off the road and shot them to death. Their bodies were found 44 days later buried in an earthen dam -- in a trench dug in anticipation of the killings, according to testimony.
In a 1967 federal trial, an all-white jury deadlocked 11-1 in favor of convicting Killen, a part-time minister. The holdout said she could not vote to convict a preacher.
Seven other men were convicted of conspiring to violate the civil rights of the victims, namely their right to live. None served more than six years in prison. At the time, no federal murder statutes existed, and the state never brought charges.
Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/23/mississippi.killings/index.html
PHILADELPHIA, Mississippi (CNN) -- A Mississippi judge Thursday sentenced former Ku Klux Klansman Edgar Ray Killen to 60 years in prison for the manslaughter of three civil rights workers in 1964.
Killen, 80, was convicted on three counts of manslaughter Tuesday, 41 years to the day a Klan mob ambushed and killed the civil rights workers -- James Chaney, 21; Andrew Goodman, 20; and Michael Schwerner, 24.
Circuit Court Judge Marcus Gordon said Thursday that he took no pleasure in pronouncing the sentence of three consecutive 20-year terms, the maximum allowed under law.
The judge said he knew some would disagree with his decision which, at Killen's advanced age, amounts to a life sentence in prison. But Gordon said each of the dead mens' lives had equal value, and the law does not adjust sentence terms based on a defendant's age.
Sounds like this judge might wear a different colored robe when he's off duty..... I wouldn't give this fucking piece of garbage any sympathy for his age. He's a hateful murderer. Period.
The "Freedom Summer" killings helped galvanize the civil rights movement, leading to major reforms in access to voting, education and public accommodations.
On Tuesday, a jury of nine whites and three blacks decided on the manslaughter convictions after several hours of deliberations. The convictions were on a lesser charge; prosecutors had charged Killen with murder.
Defense attorney James McIntyre has said he will appeal the convictions, The Associated Press reported. The defense contends the jury should not have been allowed to consider manslaughter. Circuit Court Judge Marcus Gordon will hear a motion for a new trial on Monday, the AP reported.
Goodman's mother, Carolyn Goodman, 89, said Tuesday she had waited a long time for a guilty verdict, but it was "nothing to be happy about."
"I'm just overcome. ... But you know I had a feeling it was going to happen," she said.
"I just hope he's off the streets," she said of Killen. "I don't want anything more terrible than that. I don't want anything violent. I'm against capital punishment."
Schwerner's widow, Rita Bender, said, "I would hope that this case is just the beginning and not the end."
She acknowledged that the case likely became a high-profile one because Schwerner and Goodman were white New Yorkers who came to the South the summer of 1964 with hundreds of other volunteers to register black voters. Chaney was a black man from Mississippi.
Neshoba County District Attorney Mark Duncan said the verdict means his county will no longer "be known by a Hollywood movie anymore," referring to the 1988 film "Mississippi Burning" based on the killings.
On June 21, 1964, Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner were on their way to investigate the burning of a black church when they were briefly taken into custody for speeding.
According to testimony, the Klan had burned the church to lure the three men back to Neshoba County.
After they were released from the county jail in Philadelphia, a KKK mob tailed their car, forced it off the road and shot them to death. Their bodies were found 44 days later buried in an earthen dam -- in a trench dug in anticipation of the killings, according to testimony.
In a 1967 federal trial, an all-white jury deadlocked 11-1 in favor of convicting Killen, a part-time minister. The holdout said she could not vote to convict a preacher.
Seven other men were convicted of conspiring to violate the civil rights of the victims, namely their right to live. None served more than six years in prison. At the time, no federal murder statutes existed, and the state never brought charges.
Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/23/mississippi.killings/index.html