I posed in 2005 about Gov. Haley Barbour's (R-MS) refusal to issue a posthumous pardon to a man that Barbour admits was framed by Mississippi police because of his outspokenness in favor of racial integration. Now is a good time to think about it again.
<< Clyde Kennard (June 12, 1927–July 4, 1963) was a Civil Rights pioneer and martyr, born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.[1] In the 1950s, he attempted several times to enroll at Mississippi Southern College (now known as University of Southern Mississippi) to complete his undergraduate degree started at University of Chicago. USM was still segregated and reserved for European Americans.
<< After he published a letter about integrated education, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission conspired to have him arrested on false charges. He was convicted and sentenced to seven years at Parchman Penitentiary, a high-security prison. Although he was terminally ill with cancer, the governor refused to pardon him, but released him in January 1963. After 2005 and publication of evidence that Kennard had been framed, supporters tried to secure a posthumous pardon for him, but Governor Haley Barbour refused. >>
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_Kennard
<< Last month, Mr. Kennard's supporters asked Governor Barbour, a Republican, for a pardon. The state parole board must first make a recommendation, but Mr. Barbour has already said he will not consider granting one.
<< "The governor hasn't pardoned anyone, be it alive or deceased," said Mr. Barbour's spokesman, Pete Smith. "The governor isn't going to issue a pardon here."
<< Mr. Smith added that a pardon would be an empty gesture.
<< "The governor believes that Clyde Kennard was wronged, and if he were alive today his rights would be restored," Mr. Smith said. "There's nothing the governor can do for Clyde Kennard right now." >>
Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/04/us/04pardon.html
