Senate OKs bill to probe civil rights murders

[dipsydoodle]

WASHINGTON - The Senate passed legislation Wednesday that would give the Justice Department more money to investigate unsolved murders from the civil rights era.

The bill authorizes $10 million annually over 10 years to help the FBI and other agencies take a fresh look at dozens of cold cases, mostly in the South. Additional funds are included for local law enforcement agencies.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., is named after Emmett Till, a black teenager murdered in Mississippi in 1955 after being accused of whistling at a white woman. His killers were never convicted.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26877136/