President Obama should grant pardon to Jack Johnson

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/owen_slot/article6888297.ece

October 24, 2009

We understand that President Obama has a fair amount on his agenda, yet it is peculiar that he has no space for Jack Johnson, the African-American who was world heavyweight boxing champion before the First World War. Johnson is perhaps better known not for his six years as champion but for the ten months he served in prison because of his relationship with a white woman.

It took two hours for an all-white jury in 1913 to convict Johnson for violating the Mann Act, which prohibited the transportation of women across state lines for “immoral” purposes.

The campaign for a posthumous pardon is being waged by John McCain and Peter King, the Republicans, who have pushed a resolution through the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Rarely will a simpler, more popular piece of legislation cross the desk of Barack Obama. However, the same opportunity sat in the in-tray of George W. Bush and there it was ignored.

[postulater]

1. There's the bipartisan spirit!

[niyad]

2. he should grant a pardon to leonard pelltier while he's at it