Yes, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist should pardon Doors lead singer Jim Morrison. (Is this really an issue?)

Richard Nixon, Jefferson Davis, Caspar Weinberger and his Iran-Contra cronies, George Steinbrenner, and Marc Rich get pardons, but Morrison doesn't?

What was he convicted of anyway? Indecent exposure and profanity at a concert in Miami in 1969? Oh, how awful.

Not that it matters all that much, not so many years later, but a pardon seems like the obvious and right thing to do.

Uploaded by Misfit52687138 on May 22, 2006

Source: The Reaction

The Doors with their billboard in Hollywood 1967.

Outgoing Governor Charlie Crist, who was defeated last week in his bid for the U.S. Senate by Marco Rubio, said he was considering pardoning Jim Morrison the former Doors frontman. Morrison has been dead since 1971. “Candidly, it's something that I haven’t given a lot of thought to, but it's something I’m willing to look into in the time I have left,” Crist said. “Anything is possible.” Morrison, a Florida native, earned himself the conviction after a concert in Miami when he, allegedly, drunkenly exposed himself and acted lewdly. At the time, his lawyers hoped to turn it into a First Amendment case. 

Source: LeRoy's Pink Fist

What better legacy for a man who would do or say anything than to be the only Florida Governor to seriously consider a posthumous pardon for the legendary lead singer for the Doors, Jim Morrison. Morrison was convicted of indecent exposure and profanity over forty years ago after a March 1969 performance at the Dinner Key Auditorium in Miami. Fans have been desperately seeking a pardon for Morrison ever since. Could they have finally found their hero?

In a phone interview with The Hill, Crist said “stay tuned” regarding the idea of a posthumous pardon for the singer who died in Paris in 1971. Crist lost his independent bid for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday and will leave office in January, to be replaced by Republican Rick Scott.

“Candidly, it's something that I haven’t given a lot of thought to, but it's something I’m willing to look into in the time I have left,” said Crist. “Anything is possible.”

At this point the only thing certain about Charlie Crist is that anything is indeed possible. Of course there must be sound reasons to believe that Jim Morrison was convicted in error right? In the minds of devoted Doors fans there is plenty of "reasonable" doubt. One fan wrote a master's thesis debating press, police and eye-witness reports of Morrison's behavior on stage that night. The author found herself somewhat incredulous about her thesis—at least the long circuitous route she had taken to its completion: "If I were told five years ago that this would be the path on which I would travel, the journey I would take—earning the master’s of liberal arts and writing another thesis—after graduating with a Ph.D. in music and a certificate of advanced studies in library and information science, I would not have wanted to believe it." Frankly, I wouldn't have wanted to believe it either.

Well then, these devoted fans believe Crist may be their last hope for a full pardon for Morrison and what do you know, Charlie thinks he might see some doubts about the case.

Other band members have stated in interviews over the years that Morrison was clearly drunk at the concert, as obvious from sound recordings which showed he also tried to provoke the audience at various times.

Ironically, Morrison was cleared of drunkenness charges in the ensuing trial, as well as a felony charge for lewd and lascivious behavior, but convicted of exposure and profanity. Morrison and his lawyers had hoped to turn the trial into a First Amendment battle, and he claimed in several later interviews that the trial was a sham. Morrison’s death in 1971 ended the case without him ever serving any prison time.

Doors fans have clamored for years to get Morrison’s name cleared, but Crist’s predecessors in the governor’s office were unmoved. In 2007, Crist said he would consider it, acknowledging “there was some doubt about how solid the case was.” Both Morrison and Crist attended Florida State University in Tallahassee, which Crist cites as one reason he is considering the issue.

There we go, solid reason for a governor to exercise the power to pardon, he and the convicted attended the same University. So will Charlie light their fire? One thing Doors fans should take from the entire Florida Senate race was that whatever Charlie says today has no bearing on what he will say or do tomorrow.

Source: Ruby Slippers

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is a busy fellow nowadays. Presiding over one of the largest states in the country is, as you would expect, a pretty demanding way to pass the hours between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Plus, he's also making an independent bid for the U.S. Senate seat recently vacated by Republican Mel Martinez.

But zealous fans of the Doors are clamoring for Crist to shoehorn one apparently pressing item into his schedule—granting clemency to Jim Morrison, the band's late lead singer, for a profanity and indecent exposure conviction after he allegedly pulled down his trousers onstage at a Miami auditorium in 1969.

Kerry Humphreys, a Utah rock 'n' roll memorabilia dealer who is leading the effort, told the Associated Press last week that he believed Crist was devoted to his cause. However, he now contends the governor "kind of does one thing, and then does another."

And Morrison's fans should do the same.

First, there are surely many anonymous, living Floridians who would benefit from receiving clemency. What good would it really do Morrison, who has spent almost 40 years in a Parisian grave? It's not like the blot on his record has harmed sales of the Doors' back catalog, or prevented them from being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Some supporters point to New York Gov. George Pataki, who granted clemency to the late comedian Lenny Bruce for a 1965 obscenity conviction. But giving Bruce a posthumous pardon made sense, if only to strike a blow for free speech.

But Morrison's actions were carried out in what was a sadly typical moment of drunkenness and self-indulgence. This is not something that should light Crist's fire in any way. 

Source: Washington Observer Reporter