What does the FBI have to say about the outcomes of the Till Act so far — and what does the future of work under the Cold Case Initiative look like? James talks with the FBI’s Civil Rights unit chief. Then he digs deeper into what U.S. Representative John Lewis, who championed the Till Act, really wanted — and weighs what moving forward looks like for the families with loved ones on the list.

Fifty-five years before the death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, the killing of another Black woman, Alberta O. Jones, sent shock and grief through that city’s Black community.

In 1965, Jones, a trailblazing attorney in Louisville, was found dead, floating in the Ohio River — the victim of a murder that’s still unsolved today. Thirty-four-year-old Jones was the city’s first female prosecutor, and a charismatic fixture in the Black community, helping educate and register people to vote.

Despite multiple investigations over nearly 60 years, there are no official motives or suspects in her killing. In 2018, her case was added to the federal government’s cold case list and is one of the few that remains open.

In episode 4, James explores what an open case on the list looks like through the life and death of Alberta Jones — and talks to the person who never gave up fighting for answers.

There has been just one successful prosecution since the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act was signed into law in 2008. In Alabama, a district attorney investigated and charged a state trooper in the 1965 killing of a man during a civil rights march. But whether this case was a success is complicated. James digs into that case, and follows the money to try to understand whether funds the Till Act was supposed to provide were ever granted. And would an attempt to extend the Till Act beyond its 2017 sunset date offer a chance for lawmakers and the DOJ to address criticisms?