The Wheels of Justice Turn Very Slowly

Edgar Ray Killen

As most of you have probably already heard, an 80-year-old ex-Klansman by the name of Edgar Ray Killen is being tried in Mississippi for the murders of civil rights martyrs Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and James Chaney. If convicted, he would be the first person to be found guilty of the killings. The whole thing has turned into a bit of a media circus, with current Klan members showing up to express their support for Killen, and civil rights activists doing the same to criticize him. The case is no doubt a valid one, and may give some peace to the surviving relatives of the slain. At the same time, the trial must be seen as mostly symbolic, as it’s hard to imagine that this elderly man still poses any sort of threat to the community.