Jackson Free Press

Emily Wagster Pettus reports today:

In a measure of how much things have changed over the past 41 years, about a third of the jury pool was black, roughly reflecting the racial makeup of the county's 28,700 residents. In 1964, very few blacks were registered to vote in Neshoba County, and juries were usually all-white.

The slayings of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner - three young men who were helping register blacks during the "Freedom Summer" of 1964 - galvanized the civil rights movement and helped win passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The case was dramatized in the 1988 movie "Mississippi Burning."

Security was tight as about 110 potential jurors were brought to the county courthouse on buses and ushered in through a side door. Another group is expected on Tuesday. Summonses went out to about 400 people.