Wanted: more pardons

By: Matthew Battles
December 9, 2010

Jim Morrison may get a posthumous pardon for his convictions for disorderly conduct and indecent exposure, if outgoing governor Charlie Crist of Florida goes through with his plan. Morrison faced charges following an infamous 1969 show at Miami’s Dinner Key Auditorium in which he was alleged to have exposed himself to the audience. The charges have always struck many as a blow to artistic freedom and a symptom of Sixties cultural conflict. And as Melissa Bell at the Washington Post points out, many avowedly guilty cultural figures have received pardons, from John Forte and Slick Rick to Huddie Ledbetter and Merle Haggard (the latter pardoned twice, in 1972 & 2009). Even Johnny Cash got a pardonw — which maybe didn’t go down well at Folsom Prison.

So with the culture in a clement mood, who else should win absolution? Here’s a short HiLo list:

MARQUIS DE SADE (1801)

By order of none other than Napoleon himself, Sade was arrested for his authorship of the scandalous novels Justine and Juliet. He was imprisoned without trial, though, so a pardon is not strictly in order.

Malcolm X (1946)

As Malcolm Little, the young future lightning-rod of race relations was convicted of breaking and entering and larceny and sentenced to eight to ten years in Boston’s Charlestown Prison. Of course without his imprisonment, he might never have become Malcolm X. But he should be pardoned nonetheless, both for his extraordinary impact on the political imagination, and because he can hardly be blamed for acting out of a sense of inchoate social anger as a black man. Of course, Malcolm’s experience was unique in this regard, so there shouldn’t be any worry of such a pardon setting a precedent.

VALERIE SOLANAS (1968)

It’s a tough call. Hilo Hero and SCUM-Manifesto author Solanas gunned down Andy Warhol and art critic Mario Amaya with extreme prejudice; Warhol suffered the effects of his wound for the rest of his life. On the other hand, Solanas was probably profoundly mentally ill, and the environment of The Factory was hardly conducive to sound cognitive health. If nothing else pardon her for all the men who’ve done worse and gotten away with it.

JULIAN ASSANGE (???)

The Wikileaks founder hasn’t been convicted of anything yet. And if he really is a sexual predator, then a pardon wouldn’t be correct. But his secret-document dumps deserve not only our fascination, but our gratitude and respect. And in any case it may prove harder to indict him for espionage than Joe Lieberman thinks; a report released by the Congressional Research Service indicates that he’s likely protected by first amendment and jurisdictional barriers. Nonetheless, the list of those wishing to indict Assange is long. They’ve argued for his guilt in many places, but we think the video below states their case most clearly.

So there’s a short list of cultural figures who could use a pardon, posthumously or no. Who are we leaving out?

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