Fight for justiceOn January 8, 1923, a message was sent to the US Attorney General in Washington DC, asking for an investigation. However, he said that the federal government didn't have jurisdiction over the case, but did hand it over to state officials. Governor Cary Hardee appointed a special an all white grand jury and a special prosecuting attorney to investigate. In February, the grand jury assembled in the Levy County Courthouse in Bronson. Over the next several days, they heard from 25 witnesses but didn't find enough evidence to prosecute anyone. And within only a few weeks, Rosewood was no longer in the headlines of the newspapers.
However in 1993, one of Florida's largest legal firms filed a lawsuit on behalf of many survivors against the state government for its failure to protect them and their families. Many survivors began to participate in a publicity campaign to make massacre more known. Unfortunately, the lawsuit missed the filling deadline of January 1, 1993. But the speaker of Florida House of Representatives recruited a group to research the case and provide a report that an equitable claim bill could be evaluated on. The report took almost a year to research. On December 22, 1993, the 500 page report on the Rosewood Massacre was delivered. Florida considered a bill to compensate the victims of the Rosewood Massacre. But because many of the survivors were now dead, they did not feel that their descendants who had nothing to do with the case should be compensated. However they eventually came to a conclusion that any person who could prove that they had lived in Rosewood would be given $150,000 and $500,000 to whoever could apply and show that they had an ancestor who owned property in Rosewood during the same time. |