Bill to renew probes into civil rights killings stalls

The Clarion-Ledger, 7/29/8

The U.S. Senate on Monday halted legislation that would have created a cold-cases unit inside the Justice Department to pursue unpunished killings from the civil rights era.

The Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act would give the department $10 million a year to examine civil rights killings from before 1970. Another $3.5 million would provide help to local law enforcement conducting such investigations.

That bill was part of a package of 35 pieces of legislation that would help the mentally ill, homeless youth and stroke victims as well as prosecutors fighting child pornography.