The Martin Luther King Jr. Records Collection Act, or MLK Records Act, is proposed legislation that would release United States government records pertaining to the life and

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

of Martin Luther King Jr. Versions of the law have been proposed on multiple occasions, and a complete version was brought to both chambers of the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

in 2005–2006.

History of the King files

In the years after the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., reports emerged that the government was destroying sensitive documents related to the murder case. The FBI was criticized for appearing unusually reluctant to release records pertaining to King. In 1977, Judge John Lewis Smith ruled against Bernard Lee and the

Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African Americans, African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., ...

(SCLC) in a lawsuit, and ordered that the King files be sealed for 50 years. In 1983, Senator

Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the Conservatism in the United States, conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the ...

attempted to open the files because he believed that release of

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

(FBI) records would incriminate King and prevent the establishment of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a federal holiday. He was denied by Judge Smith. The documents are thus not slated for release until 2027. Among these are an FBI file called "MURKIN" (for Murder-King, the official designation of the Martin Luther King assassination investigation) and information about how the FBI, through COINTELPRO, targeted King while he was alive.Brian Bender,
US cloaks case files involving civil rights
, ''Boston Globe, 18 January 2010; reproduce
at Common Dreams
.

Legislative history

Purpose of bill

Describing her reasons for drafting the bill, Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Georgia) stated: "The truth of the MLK assassination has never been totally revealed. The FBI program COINTELPRO, the CIA project

Operation CHAOS Operation CHAOS or Operation MHCHAOS was a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) domestic espionage project targeting American citizens operating from 1967 to 1974, established by President Lyndon B. Johnson and expanded under President Richard Nixon ...

, and the Army Intelligence operation Lantern Spike all worked together to prevent the rise of a 'black messiah' and replace Martin Luther King Jr. with a 'clean Negro.'" Senator

John Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as the 68th United States secretary of state from 2013 to 2017 in the Presidency of Barack Obama#Administration, administration of Barac ...

(D-Massachusetts), in a letter to David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, wrote: "I now believe with the clock ticking, the urgent legislative need is to provide you, as quickly as possible, with the resources you need to finish the job you have been doing before any papers are destroyed or lost forever". Some conspiracy theorists suggest that already released documents from the MURKIN file connect the 1968 King assassination to the John F. Kennedy assassination in 1963.

Introduction of bill

The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by McKinney on November 19, 2002; it was sent the same day to the House Committee on Government Reform where it died in committee. McKinney reintroduced the bill on May 23, 2005; it was again sent the same day to the House Committee on Government Reform where it again died in committee. Kerry introduced the bill in the Senate on April 4, 2006, with Sen.

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

(D-New York) as a co-signer; it was read twice and referred the same day to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs where it died in committee. It was proposed again by Kerry and Rep. John Lewis (D-Georgia) in 2010.Jerry Mitchell,
King's FBI files may be opened to public view
, ''USA Today'', 15 January 2010. Supporters of the bill have called for the release of records on other potentially racial violence. McKinney also proposed a Tupac Amaru Shakur Records Collection Act in 2005. H.R. 4210 (109th): Tupac Amaru Shakur Records Collection Act of 2005
introduced 2 November 2005.

Elements of bill

The text of the Act states that "all Government records concerning the life and assassination of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. should carry a presumption of immediate disclosure". It calls for the creation of a "Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Records Collection" at the National Archive, and would charge the Archivist of the United States to maintain all disclosed records. The law would also create a Review Board to oversee the proper disclosure of records.

References

External links

Bill text and information

H.R. 5762 (107th): Martin Luther King Jr. Records Collection Act of 2002
:
Records at govtrack

:* ttps://archive.today/20130415124618/http://www.opencongress.org/bill/109-h2554/show Records at Open Congress
S.2499 (109th): Martin Luther King Jr. Records Collection Act of 2006
:
Records at Open Congress
:
Records at govtrac
:

Already public records

FBI vault

Internet Archive

Famous 100 Quotes

Mary Ferrell Foundation

Paul Wolf site {{Martin Luther King, state=expanded Martin Luther King Jr. Proposed legislation of the 107th United States Congress Proposed legislation of the 108th United States Congress Proposed legislation of the 109th United States Congress