U.S. Senate Committee Hearing on Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board

The Civil Rights Cold Case Records Review Board will be tasked with reviewing civil rights cold case records and deciding whether the records may be included in the public collection immediately or whether continuing confidentiality or privacy concerns, as set forth in the Act, dictate that disclosure should be postponed. This work will enable victims’ stories to be told at long last. It will help provide answers for their families and closure and healing for communities across the country that have been divided by suspicion and guilt for decades. The records collection also will provide new opportunities for research and scholarship regarding our nation’s civil rights history. President Biden’s nominees include Margaret A. Burnham, Gabrielle M. Dudley, Henry Klibanoff, and Brenda E. Stevenson.

Senator Jones championed the legislation during his time in the Senate and was instrumental in the creation of the Review Board. While serving as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama prior to his Senate term, Senator Jones successfully prosecuted two of the four men responsible for the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church that killed four young girls and severely injured a fifth, finally bringing full justice and closure nearly 40 years after the attack. He is hopeful that the Review Board will continue the important work of providing closure in unsolved civil rights cases.

Arent Fox Counsel Cissy Jackson, who served as Senator Jones’ Counsel during his tenure, helped prepare the nominees leading up to the hearing and will continue to work with them as they proceed through the approval process.

A link to the full hearing is available here.