Hello Visitor,
Just in case you didn't know, we wanted you to be aware of this event taking place today.
More details are coming tomorrow about other special events taking place in Birmingham this week commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the 1963 Birmingham Civil Rights Movement.
Two Generations of Prosecutors Discuss Their Cases Against the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombers
Former Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley and former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Doug Jones will discuss their respective prosecutions of the 16th Street Church bombers in a special presentation today, one week before the bombing's 50th Anniversary.
A special public presentation, "Justice Delayed, Not Justice Denied: The Prosecution of the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Cases," will be held at the Canterbury Center of Canterbury United Methodist Church, Sunday afternoon, Sept 8, at 4 p.m.
Baxley re-opened the bombing investigation after becoming state attorney general in 1971. He requested evidence from the FBI and began to build trust with key witnesses who had been reluctant to testify.
Doug Jones began his prosecution against the two living ssuspects after ministers involved in Birmingham's Civil Rights Movement convinced the FBI to re-open the investigation in 1996 and agents found new evidence to bring the suspects to justice. Jones came to know the father of Denise McNair, one of the four girls killed in the bombing. The other girls killed in the blast were Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins and Cynthia Morris Wesley.
Their horrific deaths stunnned the city, the nation and the world as people realized the depraved depths of racial hatred. The bombing was a turning point in the modern American Civil Rights Movement and eventually led to the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Jones promised an extended version of his presentation today with Baxley, who successfully prosecuted Robert "Dynamite Bob" Chambliss in 1977.
Today's event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Laura Dabbs at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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