Last Chance for Justice

June 10, 2013
Revisiting an historic civil rights–era cold case, a retired officer of the Birmingham Police Department lauds the persistent efforts of police detective Ben Herren and FBI special agent Bill Fleming in reopening the investigation into the deadly September 15, 1963, bombing of Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, and ultimately bringing the two surviving culprits to justice. Picking up the trail again after over 30 years, the relentless sleuths must contend with a dearth of living witnesses (many had died in the intervening decades), and the fact that only two suspects—Bobby Frank Cherry and Thomas Blanton—were still alive. In recounting Herren and Fleming’s investigation, Thorne examines the legacy of racism and resistance in Birmingham, from Bull Connor’s brutal policing methods to violent Klansmen and Reverend Shuttlesworth’s coalition of activist black churches. He also reveals the surprisingly effective efforts of white bigots determined to thwart the FBI’s inquiry into the bombings. Herren’s interview with one of the bombers, and the subsequent trials of Blanton and Cherry, are truly gripping. Thorne’s story is a stunning reminder of just how tough the fight for freedom—and justice—really is.

July 1, 2013
The overly detailed story of a decades-late and yearslong investigation into the 1963 Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, in which four young black girls were killed. Thorne, a retired Birmingham police officer, focuses on two men: Ben Herren, a Birmingham police sergeant (later an FBI analyst), and his partner Bill Fleming, an FBI special agent. In 1997, Herren and Fleming were assigned to reopen the investigation into the bombing, which had been investigated twice before--once in the 1960s by the FBI and again in the '70s by the state; the first was closed with no convictions, and the second led to a single conviction. Sorting through mountains of old files, the men compiled lists of possible witnesses, including Ku Klux Klan members and their associates and relatives. Tracking down these people, many of them now old and sick, and then interviewing them and persuading some to talk, took years. In 2001, and again in 2002, a suspect was brought to trial and convicted. Thorne presents the arguments of both the prosecution and the defense in these two trials. The portrait of the two hardworking, persistent investigators contrasts with that of the violent Klansmen, a powerful force in 1960s Birmingham. If Southern racists are the villains, the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover also comes across badly, with the Alabama attorney general later accusing the bureau of refusing to share evidence and thwarting the state's first investigation. Thorne attempts to guide readers through the long years of interviews by providing a front-of-the-book list of names; it helps, but some judicious pruning would have made for a smoother, more readable story. Timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham bombing, this account, though ineptly written, does wrap up a sorry episode in the city's history and may have considerable local appeal.

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September 1, 2013
In 1995, the FBI and Birmingham local law enforcement reopened the case of the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, providing the last chance to bring to justice the bombers responsible for the deaths of four young black girls. The case had been closed after a decade of investigation resulted in only one prosecution. Thorne, a Birmingham police officer with a background as a social worker, draws on interviews with investigators, FBI reports, and trial transcripts to chronicle the extensive efforts that ended in two convictions. Police detective Ben Herren and FBI special agent Bill Flemming led the investigation, working in the face of frustrations and suspicions within the black community of the sincerity of law enforcement. They cultivated reluctant witnesses and pressed ahead with the investigation, though several other witnesses had long since died. This is an important examination of the Birmingham bombing on its fiftieth anniversary and the awarding of the Congressional Gold Medal to the victims.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)