Existing comment:
The Dyer Antilynching Bill:
In April 1918, Congressman Leonidas Dyer (R-MO.) introduced an antilynching bill in the House of Representatives, based on a bill drafted by NAACP founder Albert E. Pillsbury in 1901. The bill called for the prosecution of lynchers in federal court. State officials who failed to protect the rights of lynching victims or prosecute lynchers could face five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
The victim's heirs could recover up to $10,000 from the county where the crime occurred. NAACP Secretary James Weldon Johnson personally lobbied for the bill. After a prolonged fight, the House passed the bill on January 26, 1922, by a vote of 230 to 119, but a filibuster by Southern Democrats defeated it in the Senate. |