US:AN ELDERLY member of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) who, it was claimed, was responsible for one of the most brutal killings of the civil rights period, has had his conviction overturned by a US appeals court.
James Ford Seale allegedly tied an engine block to the feet of two black teenagers and threw them alive into the Mississippi river.
The decision to throw out the three life sentences imposed last year on Mr Seale (72) throws into doubt attempts by the FBI to bring to justice the perpetrators of scores of lynchings and murders that swept the southern US during the 1950s and 1960s.
Three judges sitting in the 5th US circuit court of appeals ruled that the case against Mr Seale, which went to trial 43 years after the murders, had fallen outside the time limit set by the statute of limitations.
The ruling conceded that the statute imposing the limit on cases "in some cases deprives society of its ability to prosecute criminal offences", but argued "that is the price we pay for repose".
The murders of Charles Moore and Henry Dee, both 19, were among the most notorious acts of white southern supremacists who sought to silence opposition to segregation through violence and intimidation.
The year of the slayings, 1964, was known as "freedom summer" in the south because of efforts by civil rights campaigners to overcome barriers to black people registering to vote.
On May 2nd, 1964, members of the Mississippi branch of the White Knights of the KKK kidnapped the teenagers, whom they suspected of being involved in civil rights activity, as they were hitchhiking to a party. The men were tied to a tree and beaten 30 or 40 times with a stick, before being thrown into the river with a 4x4 engine block tied to their legs.
Mr Seale's conviction came largely on the testimony of another KKK member, Charles Edwards, who was granted immunity in return for testifying.
Mr Seale has been receiving medical treatment for cancer. It is possible he will remain in jail pending a further appeal by prosecutors. - (Guardianservice )