Lincoln, let it be known, is not Private Ryan goes civil war.
School busing has come and largely gone, civil rights has turned into affirmative action, which has come under widespread attack.
"In the past," he adds, "a lot of these cases would go civil because the government really didn't have the resources to do the criminal prosecution".
However, the preference for the police to go civil, not criminal, is just that: a preference.
Delivering arms into a country going through civil war is damaging, both politically and morally.
"There go our civil liberties," he recalls thinking.
Which way would Mandela go on civil liberties?
Go north Civil Rights history isn't exclusive to the South.
Abortion was not the first issue that redefined politics: that honour goes to civil rights.
Concerns about the actions of the police go beyond civil liberties issues.
"We understand that there were other women who called before [Ligons], whose calls went unanswered," civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump said.
