Pollack: Cold Case Justice Published by SURFACE, 2008 1 Syracuse University Magazine, Vol. 25, Iss. 3 [2008], Art. 6 Through a College of Law initiative, professors Paula Johnson and Janis McDonald and their students are investigating unsolved murders from the civil rights era M ANY AMERICANS KNOW THE NAMES have a c hampion: The Cold Case Justice Thomas Moore (above left) ey, and Mi­ Initiative at t he College of Law. Thomas is Andrew Goodman, James Chan and Canadian chael Schwerner, the civil rights workers one of more than a dozen students actively documentary slain in M ississippi by Ku Kl ux Klan mem­ working with the group's founders, law pro­ filmmaker David Ridgen stand next r" in 1964. fessors Paula Johnson and Janis McDonald. bers during "Freedom Summe to a memorial for But College of Law student Tashia Thomas They seek to reopen the book on crimes that Moore's brother, L'09 is one of the few who knows of Jo­ were never prosecuted, and in some cases Charles, and Henry Dee, who were to find out never even investigated, 40 years ago. The seph Edwards, and she wants killed by Ku Klux how and why he died, and who killed h im. seeds of the Cold Case Justice Initiative were Klan members in Edwards lived out most of his short life in planted in spring 2007 on a trip to Ferriday, 1964. Ridgen's film, Mississippi Cold Cose, cate exists Louisiana, where McDonald first learned rura l Louisiana. N o b irth ce rtifi was nominated for to tell exactly how old he was when he dis­ about t he case of Frank Morri s, a successful an Emmy Award. appeared, just weeks after the three civil African American shoe-shop owner. In De­ Students (above assailants trapped Morris rights workers were ab ducted, and before cember 1964, two right) listen to a their bodies were found. Those murders in his store and held hi m at gunpoint as they guest speaker in spurred t he passage of landmark civil rights poured fl ammable liquid around hi m and set the law course Investigating and owever, was fire to the building. He died four days later in legislation. Edwards's body, h Reopening Unsolved never found-or even searc hed for. "He a hospital, third -degree burns covering ev­ Civil Rights Era knew something was going to happen to ery pa rt of his body except t he soles of his Murders. him," Thomas says. "He told his cousin he feet. The case was investigated and even re­ was afraid for his life." opened briefly in the 1970s, but no one was The forgotten victims of racially moti- ever prosecuted. vated crimes during the civil rights era now Sta nley Nelson, an editor at the Concordia Photo (top left) courtesy of Janis M cDonald; photo (top right) by John Dowling Fa ll 2008 I 19 https://surface.syr.edu/sumagazine/vol25/iss3/6 2 Pollack: Cold Case Justice Thomas Moore (left) expresses his gratitude to U.S. Attorney Dunn Lampton Thomas Moore speaks at the College of Law last fall about his brother's case following the August 2007 conviction of James Ford Seale for his role in and the investigation he conducted that led authorities to James Ford Seale. the 1964 abduction and murder of Moore's brother, Charles Moore, and his In September, Seale's conviction was overturned on a technicality, but Moore friend, Henry Dee. remains committed to pursuing justice for his brother and Dee. Sentinel in Ferriday, contacted Morris's granddaughter, Rosa Mor­ ecutions should have already happened and the knowledge that, ris Williams, about her grandfather's death. He began conducting within a few years, almost all the perpetrators will be dead. This research and joined forces with Johnson and McDonald to inves­ leaves little time for one remed y, courtroom con victions, McDon­ tigate the unsolved murder. What began as a volunteer-based re­ ald says, but revealing the truth is still of critical importance to search effort led to a new law course, Investigating and Reopening the families. Other means of justice must be explored when con­ Unsolved Ci vil Rights Era Murders, offered last fall. Thomas, who victions are no longer possible. To further the Morris investiga­ was among the first students to volunteer earlier that spring, en­ tion, the professors gained the attention of Donald Washington, rolled in the course. "I felt angry," she sa ys. "And sad for the family. the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Louisiana, and pro­ I felt angry as a black person, and it made me want to be invol ved . vided him with key information from their ongoing investigation. In these types of cases there is usually nothing you can do, and At Washington's request, the FBI gave him a summary report on this was an opportunity to do something." For her, she sa ys, it be­ the Morris case, and he promised a full revie w. In late January, came an obligation. the Justice Department special litigation counsel for the Office The professors and students combed through thousands of of Ci vil Rights, Criminal Section, became invol ved and met with pages of documents, including FBI files, which they gained access McDonald in Ferriday. to through the Freedom of Information Act, the Southern Poverty La w Center, the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission database, and se veral additional sources. Their research provided impor­ Long Road to Justice tant clues to the Morris case, as well as extensive information Why now, four decades after the fact, is the Frank Morris case about many other apparently raciall y motivated-and unsolved­ being reopened? And what does his case bode for other forgotten murders during the era . As the number of cases grew, so did a victims caught in the same web of violence? As the investigation realization of how much remained undone, and how little time proceeds, it's evident that Morris's killers are linked to other un­ there was to accomplish the work. In December 2007, Johnson sol ved murders. And while some of those who seemed beyond and McDonald officially founded the Cold Case Justice Initiative, the la w have been prosecuted and convicted, how justice will ulti­ headquartered at the College of La w. With the financial support mately be served remains to be seen. of the college, the program was able to expand its research, offer Thomas Moore shared his story of a recent prosecution with courses, educate students, faculty, and the general public through a Syracuse audience last fall. The bodies of Moore's 19-year-old forums and events, and serve as a clearinghouse for information brother, Charles, and his friend, Henry Dee, were found during about the cases. As many as 70 students have been invol ved in the hunt for Goodman, Chaney, and Sch werner. Speaking at the researching cases, with many making significant contributions. invitation of Johnson and McDonald, Moore told students about As of this fall, the initiative has about 17 cases under investiga­ the years of indifference and neglect by la w enforcement offi­ tion. "There is an urgency to our work," McDonald says. "A sense cials, who essentially dropped his brother's case after discovering of 'We need to do it now or it will be too late."' the young man's bod y was not one of the murdered civil rights McDonald is driven by several factors: the belief that the pros- workers. Years later, when new evidence emerged, Moore was Published by SURFACE,20 I Sy2008racuse University Magazine Photo (top left): Associated Press; photo (top right) cou rtesy of Janis McDonald 3 Syracuse University Magazine, Vol. 25, Iss. 3 [2008], Art. 6 Law professors Janis McDonald and Paula Johnson (front row, left and center) listen to Shelton Chappell speak to their class about the frustrations he experienced in his mother's tragic case. She was kil led in 1964 by four Ku Klux Klan members. told that the killer, a Ku Klu x Klan member named James Ford American, would have drawn had he died without his white co­ Seale, was dead. "Seale's famil y said he was dead," Paula John­ workers, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner. "This nation son sa ys. "The case got to trial through Thomas Moore's efforts. reall y hasn't been committed to dealing with issues of race and Togeth er with documentary filmmaker Da vid Ridgen [whose film racism ," Johnson says. "These things happened in large numbers about the investigation, Mississippi Cold Case , was nominated for a and didn't garner attention. Many black folks lost their li ves. We 2008 Em my Award], he initiated his own investigation by talking are sa ying, 'They do matter!"' to people in the community. And someone said, 'No, Seale's not In 2007, the U.S. House of Representatives took steps to pro­ dead, he li ves ri ght down the street."' vide for federal investigation of cold cases, passing the Emmett Till In June 2007, McDonald attended Seale's federal trial in Jack­ Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act, named for the Chicago teenager son , Mississippi, on kidnapping and conspiracy charges in the ab­ who was murdered in Mississippi in 1955 because he allegedly duction and murder of Moore and Dee. Throughout the trial, what whistled at a white woman. In September, the U.S. Senate passed struck McDonald most was the elderly African American women the legislation, authorizing funding for the Justice Department to who came to court daily to hear the evidence.