Cameron Miranda
On March 29, 2022, US President Joe Biden signed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act into law, designating lynching as a federal hate crime. The bill was named after Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955, sparking national and international outrage. The Act amends the US Code to make lynching punishable by up to 30 years in prison. This legislation comes after more than 200 failed attempts to outlaw lynching, with anti-lynching bills, including the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill and the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act, being proposed as early as 1917.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of the law | Emmett Till Antilynching Act |
| Year of enactment | 2022 |
| Date of being signed into law | March 29, 2022 |
| Signed into law by | President Joe Biden |
| Amends | Section 249(a) of Title 18 of the United States Code |
| Punishment | 30 years imprisonment, fine, or both |
| Previous attempts at anti-lynching laws | Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, Costigan-Wagner Bill, Justice for Victims of Lynching Act |
| Year of the first anti-lynching bill | 1917 |
| Year of the first anti-lynching bill introduced in Congress | 1918 |
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What You'll Learn
The Emmett Till Antilynching Act
> (5) LYNCHING.—Whoever conspires to commit any offense under paragraph (1), (2), or (3) shall, if death or serious bodily injury (as defined in section 2246 of this title) results from the offense, be imprisoned for not more than 30 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both.
The bill was introduced to the Senate by Senator Cory Booker and co-sponsored by Senators Paul, Tim Scott, and Raphael Warnock, among others. It was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on February 28, 2022, and by the U.S. Senate on March 7, 2022, through unanimous consent. The Act extends the existing federal hate crime law (18 U.S. Code § 245 and § 249) by criminalizing collaborators who helped plan violent acts against victims when the violence is based on the victim's race, religion, colour, sexual orientation, or certain other characteristics.
The bill is named after 14-year-old Emmett Till, who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955. Till entered a country store in Sumner County, Mississippi, and spent about one minute alone with the owner's wife, Carolyn Bryant. Her husband, Roy Bryant, and his half-brother, J.W. Milam, abducted and tortured Till to death. The two men were indicted and tried in September 1955, but an all-white, all-male jury found them not guilty. Till's mother held an open-casket funeral in Chicago, where thousands saw his mutilated body. She also distributed photographs of his corpse to the media, explaining that "the whole nation had to bear witness to this."
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The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill
The United States has had a long history of racial violence, with nearly 200 anti-lynching bills introduced in Congress between 1882 and 1968. The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill was one such bill, introduced in 1918 by Representative Leonidas C. Dyer, a Republican from Missouri who represented a majority African-American district. Dyer was motivated by the high rate of lynchings in the South and the failure of local and state authorities to prosecute them. The bill was intended to "protect citizens of the United States against lynching in default of protection by the States."
The failure of the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill and other similar bills led to widespread criticism of Congress. On June 13, 2005, the US Senate formally apologized for its failure to enact anti-lynching legislation when it was most needed. It wasn't until March 29, 2022, that the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, a federal law that defines lynching as a hate crime, was signed into law by President Joe Biden. This law increases the maximum penalty to 30 years' imprisonment for several hate crime offences.
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The Costigan-Wagner Bill
In 1938, Senator William Borah spoke against the Costigan-Wagner Bill, arguing that it was no longer needed as the number of lynchings had dropped sharply. Despite the efforts of anti-lynching campaigners, the bill ultimately failed to pass. It was not until 2022, with the passage of the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, that an anti-lynching bill finally became law in the United States.
The failure of the Costigan-Wagner Bill and other similar bills, such as the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, highlighted the challenges and resistance faced in addressing the issue of lynching at the federal level. The national debate and pressure from groups like the NAACP brought greater attention to the extrajudicial practice of lynching and the need for federal legislation to eradicate it.
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The Justice for Victims of Lynching Act
The bill was a revised version of the earlier Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, which was introduced in 1918 by Representative Leonidas C. Dyer, who represented a majority African-American district. Dyer was outraged by the hate crimes and violence occurring around him, particularly the high rate of lynchings in the South and the failure of local and state authorities to prosecute them. The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill passed the House of Representatives but was prevented from coming to a vote in the Senate multiple times due to opposition from Senator William Borah and Southern Democrats.
The bill was renamed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act in honour of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955, sparking national and international outrage. The final version of the bill included a serious bodily injury standard, addressing concerns raised by Senator Rand Paul about the original bill's language being overly broad. The Emmett Till Antilynching Act was signed into law by President Joe Biden on March 29, 2022, finally making lynching a federal hate crime offence in the United States.
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The Civil Rights Act of 1968
The Act created a federal hate crime law, making it a crime to injure, intimidate, or interfere with anyone... by reason of their race, color, religion, or national origin, handicap or familial status. It also made it a felony to "travel in interstate commerce... with the intent to incite, promote, encourage, participate in, and carry on a riot." This was the first federal hate crime law and was codified as 18 U.S.C. § 245, 249.
The Act was passed in response to the Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968), which paved the way for several civil rights bills. It was also a direct response to the persistent issue of race-based housing patterns, where African American and Mexican American families faced discrimination when trying to rent or purchase homes due to their race or national origin.
While the 1866 Act declared that all people born in the United States are legally citizens and prohibited discrimination in housing, it lacked federal enforcement provisions. The 1968 Act addressed this gap by providing federal enforcement mechanisms, ensuring that the rights guaranteed under the law could be upheld.
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, the US passed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act in 2022, which defines lynching as a federal hate crime.
The Act amends the US Code to designate lynching as a federal hate crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Emmett Till was an African American teenager from Chicago who was lynched while visiting family in Mississippi in 1955. His death galvanised the emerging Civil Rights Movement.
There were over 200 failed attempts to outlaw lynching in the US before the Emmett Till Antilynching Act was passed. The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill, the Costigan-Wagner Bill, and the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act all passed at least one legislative chamber but were not signed into law.
Opposition to anti-lynching legislation was often based on arguments of state sovereignty and concerns about the constitutionality of the proposed laws. Southern Democrats were particularly resistant to the passage of anti-lynching bills, with some arguing that federal legislation would be ineffective if states could not prevent lynchings themselves.
