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Ghosts Of Mississippi
''Ghosts of Mississippi'' is a 1996 American biographical courtroom drama film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg, and James Woods. The plot is based on the true story of the 1994 trial of Byron De La Beckwith, the white supremacist accused of the 1963 assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers. James Woods was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role of Byron De La Beckwith, but lost to Cuba Gooding Jr. The original music score was composed by Marc Shaiman and the cinematography is by John Seale. Plot Medgar Evers was an African-American civil rights activist in Mississippi murdered on June 12, 1963. It was suspected that Byron De La Beckwith, a white supremacist, was the murderer. He had been tried twice in the 1960s and both trials ended in hung juries. Evers' widow Myrlie Evers had been trying to bring De La Beckwith to justice for over 25 years. In 1989, emboldened by a newspaper article by Jerry Mitchel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rob Reiner
Robert Norman Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitcom ''All in the Family'' (1971–1979), a performance that earned him two Primetime Emmy Awards. As a director, Reiner was recognized by the Directors Guild of America Awards with nominations for the coming of age drama '' Stand by Me'' (1986), the romantic comedy '' When Harry Met Sally...'' (1989), and the military courtroom drama ''A Few Good Men'' (1992), the last of which also earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture. He has also received four nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Director. Reiner's other major directorial film credits include the heavy metal mockumentary '' This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984), the romantic comedy fantasy adventure '' The Princess Bride'' (1987), the psychological horror-thriller '' Misery'' (1990), the romantic comedy-dra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Byron De La Beckwith
Byron De La Beckwith Jr. (November 9, 1920 – January 21, 2001) was an American murderer, white supremacist and member of the Ku Klux Klan from Greenwood, Mississippi. He murdered the civil rights leader Medgar Evers on June 12, 1963. Two trials in 1964 on that charge, with all-white Mississippi juries, resulted in hung juries. In 1994, he was tried by the state in a new trial based on new evidence. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Early life and career De La Beckwith was born in Colusa, California, the son of Byron De La Beckwith Sr., who was the town's postmaster and Susan Southworth Yerger. His father died of pneumonia when he was 5. One year later, he and his mother settled in Greenwood, Mississippi, to be near family. His mother died of lung cancer when he was 12 years old, leaving him orphaned. He was raised by his maternal uncle William Greene Yerger and his wife. He was related by marriage to the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
District Attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a local government area, typically a county or a group of counties. The exact name and scope of the office varies by state. Alternative titles for the office include county attorney, solicitor, or county prosecutor. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case against an individual suspected of breaking the law, initiating and directing further criminal investigations, guiding and recommending the sentencing of offenders, and are the only attorneys allowed to participate in grand jury proceedings. The prosecutors decide what criminal charges to bring, and when and where a person will answer to those charges. In carrying out their duties, prosecutors have the authority to investigate persons, grant immunity to witne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bobby DeLaughter
Robert Burt DeLaughter Sr. (born February 28, 1954 in Vicksburg, Mississippi) is a former state prosecutor and then Hinds County Circuit Judge. He prosecuted and secured the conviction in 1994 of Byron De La Beckwith, charged with the murder of the civil rights leader Medgar Evers on June 12, 1963. Two earlier trials in Mississippi in 1964 had resulted in hung juries. Career On March 28, 2008, DeLaughter was suspended from the bench indefinitely by the Mississippi Supreme Court due to allegations of bribery and judicial misconduct. On February 12, 2009, DeLaughter pleaded not guilty to a five-count federal indictment; these charges were linked to the criminal investigation of disgraced tort attorney Richard Scruggs. On July 30, 2009, he pleaded guilty to one obstruction-of-justice charge. On November 13, 2009, DeLaughter was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison by Judge Glen Davidson. In keeping with the recommendation of his plea agreement, Judge Davidson did not impose a f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission
The Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission (also called the Sov-Com) was a state agency in Mississippi from 1956 to 1977 tasked with fighting desegregation and controlling civil rights activism. It was overseen by the Governor of Mississippi. The stated objective of the commission was to " ..protect the sovereignty of the state of Mississippi, and her sister states" from "encroachment thereon by the Federal Government". It coordinated activities to portray the state and racial segregation in a more positive light. Serving governors and lieutenant governors of Mississippi were ''ex officio'' members of the commission. The Sovereignty Commission spied on and conspired against civil rights activists and organized pressure and economic oppression of those who supported the civil rights movement in Mississippi. The agency was given unusual authority to investigate citizens of the state, issue subpoenas and even exercise police powers, although it was not attached to any law enforcem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jury Tampering
Jury tampering is the crime of unduly attempting to influence the composition and/or decisions of a jury during the course of a trial. The means by which this crime could be perpetrated can include attempting to discredit potential jurors to ensure they will not be selected for duty. Once selected, jurors could be bribed or intimidated to act in a certain manner on duty. It could also involve making unauthorized contact with them for the purpose of introducing prohibited outside information and then arguing for a mistrial. In the United States, people have also been charged with jury tampering for handing out pamphlets and flyers indicating that jurors have certain rights and obligations, including an obligation to vote their conscience notwithstanding the instructions they are given by the judge. Republic of Ireland In the Republic of Ireland, the Special Criminal Court is a three-judge, juryless court which tries cases based on a majority vote. Use of the Special Criminal Court ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerry Mitchell (reporter)
Jerry W. Mitchell is an American investigative reporter formerly with ''The Clarion-Ledger'', a newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. He convinced authorities to reopen cold murder cases from the civil rights era, prompting one colleague to call him "the South's Simon Wiesenthal". In 2009, he received a "genius grant" from the MacArthur Foundation. Life Mitchell was a court reporter for the ''Clarion-Ledger'' in 1989 when the film '' Mississippi Burning'' inspired him to look into old civil rights cases that many thought had long since turned cold. His investigations have led to the arrest of several Klansmen and prompted authorities to reexamine numerous killings during the civil rights era. In 1996, he was portrayed by Jerry Levine in the Rob Reiner film, ''Ghosts of Mississippi'', about the murder of Medgar Evers and the belated effort to bring killer Byron De La Beckwith to justice. He was featured in The Learning Channel documentary ''Civil Rights Martyrs'' that aired in Febr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myrlie Evers
Myrlie Louise Evers-Williams (née Beasley; born March 17, 1933) is an American civil rights activist and journalist who worked for over three decades to seek justice for the 1963 murder of her husband Medgar Evers, another civil rights activist. She also served as chairwoman of the NAACP, and published several books on topics related to civil rights and her husband’s legacy. On January 21, 2013, she delivered the invocation at the second inauguration of Barack Obama. Early life Evers-Williams was born Myrlie Louise Beasley on March 17, 1933, in her maternal grandmother’s home in Vicksburg, Mississippi. She was the daughter of James Van Dyke Beasley, a delivery man, and Mildred Washington Beasley, who was 16 years old. Myrlie’s parents separated when she was just a year old; her mother left Vicksburg but decided that Myrlie was too young to travel with her. Since her maternal grandmother worked all day in service, with no time to raise a child, Myrlie was raised by her ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hung Jury
A hung jury, also called a deadlocked jury, is a judicial jury that cannot agree upon a verdict after extended deliberation and is unable to reach the required unanimity or supermajority. Hung jury usually results in the case being tried again. This situation can occur only in common law legal systems, because civil law systems either do not use juries at all or provide that the defendant is immediately acquitted if the majority or supermajority required for conviction is not reached during a single, solemn vote. Australia Majority (or supermajority verdicts) are in force in South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia, the Northern Territory, Victoria, New South Wales, and Queensland. Australian Capital Territory and Commonwealth courts require unanimous verdicts in criminal (but not civil) trials. Canada In Canada, the jury must reach a unanimous decision on criminal cases. If the jury cannot reach a unanimous decision, a hung jury is declared. A new panel of jurors will be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Supremacy
White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine of scientific racism and was a key justification for European colonialism. As a political ideology, it imposes and maintains cultural, social, political, historical, and/or institutional domination by white people and non-white supporters. In the past, this ideology had been put into effect through socioeconomic and legal structures such as the Atlantic slave trade, Jim Crow laws in the United States, the White Australia policies from the 1890s to the mid-1970s, and apartheid in South Africa. This ideology is also today present among neo-Confederates. White supremacy underlies a spectrum of contemporary movements including white nationalism, white separatism, neo-Nazism, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mississippi
Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Mississippi's western boundary is largely defined by the Mississippi River. Mississippi is the 32nd largest and 35th-most populous of the 50 U.S. states and has the lowest per-capita income in the United States. Jackson is both the state's capital and largest city. Greater Jackson is the state's most populous metropolitan area, with a population of 591,978 in 2020. On December 10, 1817, Mississippi became the 20th state admitted to the Union. By 1860, Mississippi was the nation's top cotton-producing state and slaves accounted for 55% of the state population. Mississippi declared its secession from the Union on January 9, 1861, and was one of the seven original Confederate States, which constituted the largest slaveholding states in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cuba Gooding Jr
Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Emmy nomination. After his breakthrough role as Tre Styles in ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), he appeared in ''A Few Good Men'' (1992), '' The Tuskegee Airmen'' (1995), ''Outbreak'' (1995), and '' Jerry Maguire'' (1996), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He gained later fame for his roles in ''Men of Honor'' (2000) as Carl Brashear, and in Michael Bay's World War II epic ''Pearl Harbor'' (2001) as Doris Miller. His other films include '' As Good as It Gets'' (1997), '' What Dreams May Come'' (1998), ''Rat Race'' (2001), '' The Fighting Temptations ''(2003), '' American Gangster'' (2007), '' Gifted Hands ''(2009), ''Lee Daniels' The Butler'' (2013), and '' Selma'' (2014) as civil rights attorney Fred Gray. He also provided the voice of Buck the Horse in the animated feature film ''Home on the Range'' (2004). ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
