Friday, Sept. 26, 2008 | 2:06 a.m.
The FBI got ahead of itself early last year in revealing it had been working for some time on a plan to solve more racially motivated killings that occurred decades ago in the South.
Joined by then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, FBI Director Robert Mueller said the goal was to bring a “measure of justice” to family members of the victims.
Gonzales echoed those words, saying, “We are committed to reexamining these cases and doing all we can to bring justice to the criminals who may have avoided punishment for so long.”
Sharing attention during the announcement were John Jackson of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Richard Cohen of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Both were quoted in an Associated Press story this month reporting that not one case has been prosecuted since the announcement.
The story said civil rights leaders were beginning to wonder whether the announcement had all along been about improving Gonzales’ image. “I don’t want to be part of a show,” Cohen told the news service. Jackson said, “I’ve always wondered about the timing.” Seven months after the announcement, Gonzales resigned in disgrace.
Although we wouldn’t discount that shoring up Gonzales’ reputation may have had something to do with the announcement’s timing, the main reason the initiative has not gotten under way is that it has lacked a budget.
Perhaps the FBI had not counted on Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. The House passed a funding bill in June 2007 but Coburn put a hold on the Senate version, calling it fiscally irresponsible.
Bipartisan support for the bill finally caused Coburn to drop his hold and the bill passed the Senate on Wednesday.
How Coburn could have put a relatively small amount of money ahead of justice is beyond our ability to comprehend. Crimes of that era by members of the Ku Klux Klan and other terrorists are among the most cruel and violent ever committed on U.S. soil.
We hope the FBI can now bring that “measure of justice” that has for so long been delayed.
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