Senate OKs Civil Rights-Era Cold-Case Unit

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  Jan 5, 09 5:24 PM CST
  Griffin Bell, a Southerner who opposed racial segregation and led the Justice Department under President Carter, died today at age 90, the New York Times reports. Bell handled damage control as a post-Nixon attorney general, de-politicizing the Justice Department and the FBI. His earlier rulings as an appeals court judge, helping black urban voters in Georgia, helped ease controversy about Carter picking a Southerner as top lawman.
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• Court Tosses Ex-Klansman's Conviction in '64 Murders

  Sep 10, 08 3:47 PM CDT
  A federal appeals court has thrown out last year's conspiracy and kidnapping conviction of an ex-Klansman involved in the murders of two black teens in Mississippi in 1964. Lawyers for James Ford Seale said they will seek to have the 72-year-old cancer patient, who was serving three life sentences, freed on bond. "The court didn't reverse it on the facts," the US attorney told the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. "They reversed it on a technicality." More »

• AMA to Apologize for Racist Past

  Jul 10, 08 8:17 AM CDT
  The American Medical Association is to offer a full apology today for more than a century of racism against African Americans, reports the Washington Post. The country's largest medical association effectively barred black doctors for many years and stayed silent while the country was divided on efforts to end racial discrimination. More »

• After 20 Years, Feds Crack Hate Mail Case

  Apr 11, 08 4:14 PM CDT
  An Ohio man who authorities believe sent threatening communications to black and mixed-race recipients over the course of 20 years was indicted this week, the Plain Dealer reports. David Tuason, 46, threatened to blow up the US Supreme Court and kill Clarence Thomas in 2003 but eluded capture from the late 1980s until a few months ago, when he switched from postal mail to email. More »

• Obama Pastor Faulted for Farrakhan Rave

  Jan 15, 08 4:38 PM CST
  Barack Obama’s controversial pastor is back in the press—and the blogosphere—this time for praising Louis Farrakhan in an issue of the church's magazine, calling him "an unforgettable force, a catalyst for change and a religious leader who is sincere about his faith and his purpose." The Washington Post's Richard Cohen has a beef with heralding the "integrity and honesty" of the man he deems an archetypal anti-Semite, and says Obama must distance himself. More »