Many black retired police officers in Georgia are getting paid hundreds of dollars less in monthly pension payments than their white counterparts. Until 1976, black police officers were not allowed to join a state-supported supplemental police retirement fund, so black officers who retired before then are receiving far less than they should. Even though the Georgia State Constitution forbids the state from extending new benefits to employees after they've retired, the retirees have been fighting for an equal pension for eight years.

If lawmakers don't take action in the final weeks of the legislative session, the battle will move to the courthouse this spring, said state Rep. Tyrone Brooks, an Atlanta Democrat and civil rights activist leading the officers' campaign.

"I was hoping we wouldn't have to go this route, but litigation appears to be our only option," Brooks said.

Ronald Hampton, executive director of the National Black Police Association, said he knows of no other state with a similar pension situation. "Only Georgia is shameless enough to still have this out there," Hampton said.

Georgia's House passed an amendment resolution twice, but both times it has gone no where in the Senate. Considering the inequalities the men faced when they were on the job in a segregated, racist atmosphere, they deserve nothing less than equality now. [CNN]