Rep. Steven Roberts, a Missouri State Representative from St. Louis, introduced House Bill
1995 inJanuary,2018. This legislation would establish the "Joint Committee
on Unsolved Civil Rights Cases."
The joint committee would be responsible
for studying issues relating to the investigation and prosecution of unsolved
civil rights crimes and cold cases from the civil rights era. In addition, the
committee would make recommendations concerning the desirability of a statutory
commission or other appropriate means to conduct investigations and
prosecutions of civil rights crimes.
Racially
motivated violence continues to divide communities and intimidate minorities,
and these violent and discriminatory crimes tear at the fabric of our
democratic society. Countless African-Americans and civil rights workers
involved in the struggle for equality were murdered in deliberate acts of racial
intimidation.
The murder of Emmett Till remains one of the most infamous acts
of racial violence in American history, yet his killers were never brought to
justice. The US Department of Justice recently reopened the Till case.
"The
killers in most of the cases have not been prosecuted or convicted, and today,
there are many cases that still cry out for justice,” said State Rep. Steven Roberts of St. Louis, agreeing with a statement from the Southern Poverty Law
Center.
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