How a post-Civil War massacre impacted racial justice in America

Yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson. He was 26 years old when he was killed. An Army veteran and a recently-ordained deacon, Jackson was a familiar face at the civil rights meetings held at Zion United Methodist Church in Marion, Ala. He had also unsuccessfully tried to register to vote five times since turning 21.

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Originally published by The Marshall Project on February 27, 2015.

Debo P. Adegbile is partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, the former Litigation Director of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. and he twice defended the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in the U.S. Supreme Court.

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