I got the grave, you got the pardon, let's make lots of money

I joined Velvet Rope (the least I could do after all the traffic that they brought here) and ran across this thread which links to this article.

At a Coconut Grove concert at Dinner Key Auditorium in March 1969, the lead singer for the Doors was sentenced to six months in jail for exposing himself. But he died in a Paris bathtub of heart failure in 1971, before his appeal was heard.

Jim Morrison...has fans wishing him to be pardoned posthumously....

They have asked Gov. Charlie Crist, himself an FSU alumni, to consider a posthumous pardon....

But Crist can't pardon someone by himself. He needs two of the three other members of the Florida Cabinet, which acts as the clemency board. Plus there are no procedures to request a posthumous pardon....

Morrison was eventually acquitted of a felony charge of lewd and lascivious behavior, but was convicted of indecent exposure and profanity.

More details from NME:

TV Producer Dave Diamond has sought the pardon from Florida Governor Charlie Crist who is said to be reviewing the case....

Diamond's intention is to have Morrison, a Florida native, remembered as an artist and not as a criminal. He is arguing that had the incident occurred in the current times, the singer would not have been charged.

I'm still wondering why all this effort is needed. I can understand a desire to pardon, say, Robert E. Lee, but I'm mystified as to why there's a great need to pardon Morrison. (Maybe Diamond's planning a TV show? Must research further.)

Another thing that I have to research further - when did Jeb Bush stop being Governor of Florida? Turns out he was term limited out of office on January 2, 2007.

P.S. My favorite Morrison story (from a Rolling Stone parody, I believe) involved the Archies getting in trouble when Jughead exposed himself. It was called a "comic strip."

jimmorrison

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