Emmett Till Antilynching Act Signed Into Law

President Biden signed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act into law on March 29, 2022, making lynching a federal hate crime punishable by up to 30 years in prison. The legislation was named after the 14-year-old Black boy murdered in Mississippi in 1955. Congress had introduced anti-lynching legislation over 200 times since 1900 without passing it. Representative Bobby Rush, Senator Cory Booker, and Senator Tim Scott were primary sponsors. The law came 67 years after Till's murder and covers conspiracies to commit hate crimes that result in death or serious bodily injury.