In 2005 , 41 years after the murders of James Chaney , Andrew Goodman , and Michael Schwerner , Edgar Ray Killen was found guilty of three counts of manslaughter and was sentenced to 60 years in prison . Rita testified and responded to the verdict with : On the one hand , I understood the symbolic importance of a conviction and the real importance of it . This man should have been convicted of murder . The fact that a jury of 12 people in this county could not agree to convict him of murder indicates that there are still a lot of people in the state who choose to look the other way . The one thing that they had to have found was that he acted with malice . No one sitting and listening to evidence this week could have truly believed that he did not intend to have these men killed . After her husband 's death , Schwerner stayed in Mississippi and continued to pursue civil rights work with the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party . In particular she worked on an action " challeng ing the all-white Mississippi delegation " to the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City : " Delegates used borrowed passes to march on the convention floor and were hauled away by guards , galvanizing Mississippi 's black population . Rita Schwerner testivied sic before the credentials committee with Freedom Democratic Party members standing in silent tribute . " Schwerner earned her Bachelor 's degree at Queens College in New York and then chose to pursue her law degree . She attended Rutgers School of Law in New Jersey in 1965 , graduating three years after her husband was murdered . Out of 150 students in the graduating class of 1968 , Schwerner was one of five women . While studying at Rutgers , she also met her second husband , William J. Bender . Rita Schwerner Bender is now a private family practice attorney in Washington State . Her areas of specialty are family law , adoption and assisted reproduction , professional ethics and discipline , and " specializes in providing indigent defendants access to legal assistance . " Bender continues to be active in the fight for civil rights today , speaking on topics like " Searching for Restorative Justice : The Trial of Edgar Ray Killen " and " Racial Disparity in Education and State Action . " Additionally , Bender has written or co-written several publications pertaining to her areas of law practice . A few of her works are " FAQ : Surrogacy , Sperm Donation and Egg Donation in Washington for Prospective Gay and Lesbian Parents " ( with Raegen N. Rasnic and Janet M. Helson ) and " Washington State Legal Technician Rule : Myths and Facts , " which appeared in the Washington State Bar news in 2008
1964 Democratic National Convention
1964 Democratic National Convention
Rita Schwerner Bender