Fla. Gov. Crist to seek Jim Morrison pardon

[jefferson_dem]

Fla. Gov. Crist to seek Jim Morrison pardon
By J. Taylor Rushing - 11/16/10 08:57 PM ET

Outgoing Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said he will seek a posthumous pardon for Jim Morrison, the late lead singer of The Doors, for a pair of 1969 convictions for which rock fans have sought clemency for decades.

In a phone interview with The Hill, Crist said he would present a pardon to Florida’s Board of Executive Clemency, which meets on Dec. 9 – the day after what would have been Morrison’s 67th birthday. It will be the last such meeting that Crist will preside over as governor.

His predecessors were unmoved by pleas on Morrison’s behalf, and Crist will be succeeded in January by Republican Rick Scott, who is also seen as unsympathetic.

A native of Melbourne, Fla., Morrison died in Paris in July 1971 while he was still appealing convictions for profanity and indecent exposure after a chaotic concert in Miami on March 1, 1969. Doors fans and concertgoers have argued for decades over whether he actually exposed himself, and Morrison and his lawyers had hoped to turn the trial into a First Amendment showdown. He claimed in several later interviews that the trial was a sham.

Crist told The Hill two weeks ago that he was considering the pardon, and said the more he explored the 41-year-old case, the more he was convinced he wanted to correct an injustice.

"It comes down to wanting to do what I think is probably the right thing here, and that simply is to extend some forgiveness," Crist said. "After being briefed and reading more on it, more and more about the case, about the trial, about the fact that it was on appeal when he died and never got to have that chance for an appeal. ... It just brought me to the conclusion that we ought to pursue this pardon on his behalf."

<SNIP>

http://thehill.com/homenews/news/129593-fla-gov-crist-to-seek-jim-morrison-pardon-



Funny stock news footage of the "incident" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ap2GNPsXPM

[Kerrytravelers]

1. Better late than never.

[Yeahyeah]

2. He was just trying to show he didn't have any bombs.

He was way ahead of his time.

[groundloop]

3. Doors wore doing "Touch Me" as that photo was taken

Oh what Strange Days, this country has turned into a Ship of Fools. Ah hell, People are Strange.