Investigation of a Race Murder in 1955 Has Been Reopened

Investigation of a Race Murder in 1955 Has Been Reopened

Top of Mind with Julie Rose

Stand Your Ground Laws, 1955 Lynching Case Reopened, Space Lawyers

Episode: Stand Your Ground Laws, 1955 Lynching Case Reopened, Space Lawyers

  • Aug 7, 2018 9:00 pm
  • 17:07 mins

Guest: Rebecca DeSchweinitz, PhD, Professor of History at Brigham Young University The Justice Department has reopened its investigation into the murder of Emmett Till, who was a 14-year old African American boy lynched in Mississippi in 1955. While Emmett Till’s murder helped galvanize the Civil Rights Movement, a white jury and judge acquitted the two white men charged with his killing. So why is the case being reopened now after so many years?

Other Segments

Who Gets to Claim Self-Defense in Stand Your Ground States?

21m

Guest: Caroline Light, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Harvard University, Author, “Stand Your Ground: A History of America’s Love Affair with Lethal Self-Defense”  At least half of states have "Stand Your Groung Laws," giving people the right to use deadly force in defending themselves. But a recent shooting in Florida underscores why these laws are controversial: a white man starts an argument with a black woman in a parking lot. The woman’s boyfriend – also black – comes out and shoves the white man. The white man pulls out a gun, shoots and kills the black man, and has yet to be charged with any crime because Florida has a law that gave him the right to defend himself with deadly force.

Guest: Caroline Light, PhD, Senior Lecturer, Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality, Harvard University, Author, “Stand Your Ground: A History of America’s Love Affair with Lethal Self-Defense”  At least half of states have "Stand Your Groung Laws," giving people the right to use deadly force in defending themselves. But a recent shooting in Florida underscores why these laws are controversial: a white man starts an argument with a black woman in a parking lot. The woman’s boyfriend – also black – comes out and shoves the white man. The white man pulls out a gun, shoots and kills the black man, and has yet to be charged with any crime because Florida has a law that gave him the right to defend himself with deadly force.