I got to work, checked emails and then got on to CNN to check the sentencing of Ray Killen. THANKFULLY that bastard got the maximum sentance possible (60 years). This means, at 80 years old, he will die in prison. Good.
For those of you reading this from England, you may not have heard about the case, or know the history. you can read it in the lower part of the story.
Below is the story from CNN.
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Ex-Klansman sentenced to 60 years
Killen convicted in 1964 slayings of civil rights workers
Thursday, June 23, 2005; Posted: 12:56 p.m. EDT (16:56 GMT)
Edgar Ray Killen, 80, got a 60-year prison sentence for the 1964 killings of three 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.
Before announcing his decision, Gordon said, "You have to remember that I have a job to do, and I have to pass upon a sentence to a person who's 80-years-old."
The judge said he knew some would disagree with his decision which, at Killen's age, amounts to a life sentence in prison. But Gordon said each of the dead men's lives had equal value, and the law does not adjust sentences for a defendant's age.
"The law does not make a distinction," Gordon said. "Should a person 20 years old receive a more severe sentence than a person 80 years old? If so, why?"
After Gordon pronounced sentence, he offered the lawyers an opportunity to ask questions. They declined.
Killen left the courtroom without speaking.
Defense attorney James McIntyre has said he will appeal the convictions, The Associated Press reported. Gordon will hear a motion for a new trial on Monday, the AP reported.
Killen had faced first degree murder charges but the prosecution allowed the jury to consider the lesser charge of manslaughter in its deliberations.
On Tuesday, a jury of nine white people and three black people decided on the manslaughter convictions after several hours of deliberations.
After the sentencing, McIntyre restated his intent to seek a new trial because a grand jury indicted Killen for murder, but jurors found the part-time preacher guilty of manslaughter.
"We came to court prepared for murder (charges). They did not prove that burden," he said.
McIntyre said he would also ask the court to release Killen on bond pending an appeal in the case, citing the man's poor health.
McIntyre said he was "not surprised" about the judge's sentence and added that he has great respect for Gordon.
Mississippi Attorney General James Hood said after the sentencing that he was pleased with the outcome and "happy that we've got this case over with."
He said that someday Killen would confess to playing a role in the killings.
"He's had his freedom for 41 years, and now that's taken from him," Hood said outside the courthouse. " But sometime he's going to have to admit his crime to get into heaven."
About the Case
The "Freedom Summer" killings helped galvanize the civil rights movement, leading to major reforms in access to voting, education and public accommodations.
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.
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. 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.
