Activists Urge Prosecution In 1946 Killing of 4 Blacks

Activists marching Saturday across the Moore's Ford Bridge near where four black sharecroppers were killed hope the slayings will join the list of civil rights-era cases now being prosecuted. In 1946, a white mob pulled the four from a car near the banks of the Apalachee River about 40 miles east of Atlanta, dragged them down a wagon trail and shot them to death. Six decades later, no one has been convicted of the killings. It is difficult to prosecute these crimes when so much time has passed since they were committed, said Morris Dees, co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center. "The biggest problem with the cases is the evidence is gone, and most of the witnesses are dead," Dees said. "You've got to have a decent case." Dees is convinced that if the Moore's Ford case could reach the inside of a courtroom, there may be a chance for justice. "Juries now are more persuaded to find guilt with less proof, and I'm speaking as a criminal defense lawyer now," he said. "The political climate has swung around so far the other way it makes the convictions possible." [more]

• Pictured above: In a 1946 photograph, Loy Harrison, right, shows Sheriff J.M. Bond, left, and coroner W.T. Brown where four blacks were abducted from his car in Georgia.