Ex-inmate sues reputed Klansman in Miss. dispute

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A black ex-prison inmate has filed a lawsuit against reputed Ku Klux Klansman Edgar Ray Killen and his wife and lawyer over statements related to a land transfer and book and movie rights...

Adam Howard

Jun 19, 2012

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A black ex-prison inmate has filed a lawsuit against reputed Ku Klux Klansman Edgar Ray Killen and his wife and lawyer over statements related to a land transfer and book and movie rights.

James Stern claims Killen signed over power of attorney and land, book and movie rights to him while Stern was serving time for mail fraud in the same Mississippi prison where Killen is held.

Stern’s suit claims Killen’s lawyer, Robert Ratliff, hurt his reputation by denying Killen gave Stern power of attorney. The suit seeks at least $6 million.

Ratliff’s law partner, Jon Green, called the lawsuit frivolous.

Killing is serving 60 years for manslaughter related to the 1964 deaths of three civil rights workers that were dramatized in the 1988 movie “Mississippi Burning.”