The Legal Studies Academy at First Colonial High School will welcome former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, G. Douglas Jones, on Friday, February 6 at 9:15 a.m. Mr. Jones was the lead prosecutor in the cases of two former KKK members convicted of murdering four young African American girls in a 1963 church bombing.

On September 15, 1963, 122 sticks of dynamite were used to set off an explosion at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Four young people were killed and 22 others were hurt in the attack. The bombing was intended to scare Americans who were rallying to end segregation. Instead, it marked a turning point in the civil-rights movement, increasing support for integrated schools and the call to enact civil-rights legislation.

In 1978, one man, Robert Chambliss, was convicted of murder for his role in the bombing. But it was not until 2000 that Alabama authorities, working with the FBI, brought charges against and subsequently convicted Chambliss’s accomplices – Bobby Frank Cherry and Thomas Blanton.

During his visit to the Legal Studies Academy, Jones will speak about his role as lead prosecutor in one of the most historic civil-rights era murder cases and the circumstances that led to a 37-year delay in bringing two of the killers to justice.

Mr. Jones is currently a partner with the law firm of Whatley, Drake & Kallas in Birmingham, Alabama. His visit to Virginia Beach is made possible through a federally funded Teaching American History grant.
      
To learn more about the Legal Studies Academy, contact Paige Scherr, academy coordinator, at 648.5300, extension 85326 or visit the school division Web site. 

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