The 6-foot, 200-pound pugilist was no Jackie Robinson, who in 1947 broke baseball’s color line with stoic dignity and forbearance. What might stand between the first black president, himself the son of an interracial union, and pardoning the first black heavyweight champion? “Even with the end of Obama’s presidency coming,” Crouch said, “there is no reason to believe that Obama will change his mind.” The White House has said it does not comment on specific clemency requests, and has not made any public comment about a Johnson pardon. Flipper, born into slavery in 1856 and the first black West Point graduate, who was victimized by a racist Army prosecution. Nevertheless, Johnson’s application was accepted for review.
Every clemency request must be investigated, and the Department of Justice says its “general policy” is not to accept posthumous applications, because its time is better spent on cases that could help the living. “If President Obama opens that door, it could very well distract from what he has established as his main focus with the clemency power: commuting the prison sentences of nonviolent drug offenders,” Crouch said. Jeffrey Crouch, an American University professor and author of The Presidential Pardon Power, said it was “very unlikely” Obama would pardon Johnson. He has granted clemency to 1,324 people – more than the previous 11 presidents combined – including 395 with life sentences. Gregory Meeks.īut Obama has focused his clemency efforts on living prisoners sentenced under outdated drug laws that had strict mandatory minimum terms for nonviolent crimes. In June, McCain, a Republican, sent a letter to Obama renewing the pardon request, co-signed by Democratic Sen. Commission on Civil Rights voted unanimously in favor of one.
But so far, I’ve heard nothing back.”Ĭongress passed a bipartisan resolution supporting the pardon last year. That would have meant people would have gotten back to me with questions, with some type of response. “I thought I saw a twinkle in some eyes and interest and enthusiasm. “I had an opportunity earlier this year to address some folks at the Justice Department,” Burns said in an interview. “Not gonna do it,” Burns recalled Rove telling him. Bush, who told him to speak to Karl Rove. Burns gathered McCain and other advocates, ranging from boxer Sugar Ray Leonard to Public Enemy frontman Chuck D, and secured a law firm to submit the required application to the Office of the Pardon Attorney at the Department of Justice.īurns personally petitioned President George W. The pardon request originated with filmmaker Ken Burns as he prepared to release his 2004 documentary Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson. Peter King (R-NY) introduced a resolution calling on President Barack Obama to posthumously pardon Johnson, who was a victim of what is widely regarded as a racially motivated conviction in 1913 for violating a law prohibiting taking women across state lines for “immoral purposes”. Peter King (R-NY) (L) listen during a news conference on Capitol Hill Apin Washington, DC. John McCain (R-AZ) (2L) speaks as Dorothy Cross (2R, in wheelchair), great niece of the first African American heavyweight boxing champion John Arthur “Jack” Johnson, Cross’s daughter Constance Hines (C), Cross’s family friend Betsy Victoria (R), and Rep. “I have not understood, where this is an egregious act of racism, that the president of the United States wouldn’t want to correct history.”
John McCain, a boxing fan who has long supported the pardon, told The Undefeated. “I hope not, but I’m afraid so,” Arizona Sen. Many predict Johnson’s pardon will have to wait at least another four years. Now, in the dwindling days of his presidency, Obama must decide whether to set the record straight for an athlete who ignored white supremacy’s greatest taboo. In 2004, a group of people began seeking a posthumous pardon for Johnson. Jack Johnson’s sex life with white women may still be unforgivable, even by President Barack Obama.Ī century ago, outraged by the first black heavyweight champion’s dominance in the ring and flaunting of his white girlfriends outside of it, racist authorities convicted Johnson of transporting women across state lines “for immoral purposes.” Sentenced to the maximum year and a day in federal prison, Johnson fled the country and lived in exile for seven years before returning to serve his time at Leavenworth.
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