In the Zogby Interactive poll, 83 percent supported the prosecution of the June 21, 1964, killings of Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney, agreeing with the statement: "It's important to seek justice and bring closure to families."

Eleven percent disagreed, calling such an effort "not a good use of taxpayer money." Another 6 percent stated no opinion.

James McIntyre of Jackson, an attorney for 80-year-old reputed Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen, who goes on trial June 13 in the first-ever state charges in the killings, called the poll "ridiculous" and "slanted."

He questioned the wording of Zogby's question: "Recently, the state of Mississippi has indicted Edgar Ray Killen for the murder of three civil rights workers 40 years ago. The story was the basis of the film Mississippi Burning. Some people say that it is important to seek justice in old murder cases from the civil rights era; others contend that it is not a good use of taxpayer money. With which position do you more agree?"

Americans "haven't heard our side of the story," McIntyre said. "They haven't heard that the state of Mississippi has been derelict in their duties over the past 40 years."

Shawnta Walcott, communications director for Zogby, said the question is a fair one that doesn't seek to judge "who actually did the crime." The judicial system will decide that, she said.

"This is an across-the-board validation of the importance of seeking justice, regardless of the period that elapses," said Barry Bradford, a history teacher from Adlai Stevenson High School in Illinois, who asked Zogby to add the question to a poll.

Three of his students investigated the trio's killings for their National History Day project and put together a documentary that included a short interview with Killen, who called the trio "communists." (Their work led to them representing Illinois at the finals of National History Day.)

Rather than prosecute an old man for an old crime, McIntyre said Mississippi should be doing more to combat current crime. "I've been robbed twice," he said. "I've had four burglaries in two weeks. Every time I leave my office, I've got my gun."

McIntyre proposed his own question: "Do you think money should be spent on prosecuting a case from 40 years ago or on protecting the public, since crime has gone up 3,800 percent since then?"

If that question were asked in a poll, 87 percent of Americans would oppose such prosecution, he said.

Bradford said McIntyre's reasoning is flawed because he presumes prosecuting Killen precludes the pursuit of today's crime. "To allow a murderer to escape justice because of the passage of time only encourages more crime," he said.

In the May19-26 poll, Zogby officials surveyed 6,819 people and said those who took part "were invited to participate from panels of adults who have agreed to take part in online surveys." The margin of error is 1.2 percent.

Bradford said he asked Zogby to include the question because there's been some controversy surrounding cases that have been resurrected since 1989, and "I thought it was important to know whether the American public supported those efforts."