Thread: At Sylvester Stallone's urging, Trump weighs 'full pardon' for boxer Jack Johnson

At Sylvester Stallone's urging, Trump weighs 'full pardon' for boxer Jack Johnson

By Adam Shaw | Fox News
1 hour ago

President Trump said he is considering a pardon for boxer Jack Johnson.

President Trump Saturday said that he is considering a “full pardon” for boxing’s first black heavyweight champion, Jack Johnson, after being urged to do so by “Rocky” actor Sylvester Stallone.

Trump said that Stallone had called him and told him about Johnson, and that he is now considering a posthumous pardon. Stallone is a Trump supporter and attended his New Years' Eve Party in 2016, according to The Associated Press.

“[Johnson's] trials and tribulations were great, his life complex and controversial,” Trump tweeted. “Others have looked at this over the years, most thought it would be done, but yes, I am considering a Full Pardon!”

Johnson, born in Galveston, Texas, was the target of racial resentment, particularly after he defeated white boxer James Jeffries in the 1910 “Fight of the Century,” a bout that sparked race riots. Three years later he was convicted by an all-white jury of violating the Mann Act, which made it illegal to transport a woman across state lines for “immoral” purposes.

In their efforts to prosecute Johnson, authorities first targeted Johnson's relationship with the woman in question, Lucille Cameron, who later became his wife, but she refused to cooperate.

But they found another white witness, Belle Schreiber, to testify against him. Johnson fled the country after his conviction, but he agreed years later to return and serve a 10-month jail sentence. He died in 1946.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been calling for a pardon for Johnson since 2004, and criticized President Obama for leaving office in 2017 without having granted one. Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had also called for a pardon.

“Johnson’s imprisonment forced him into the shadows of bigotry and prejudice, and continues to stand as a shameful stain on our nation’s history,” McCain said in a statement in January 2017.

Johnson’s great-great niece has also pressed Trump for a pardon.

Posthumous pardons are rare, but not unprecedented. President Bill Clinton pardoned Henry O. Flipper, the first African-American officer to lead the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry Regiment during the Civil War; he was framed for embezzlement. Bush pardoned Charles Winters in 2008, an American volunteer in the Arab-Israeli War convicted of violating the U.S. Neutrality Acts in 1949.

Fox News’ Ben Florance and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018...k-johnson.html

Trump considering pardon for boxer Jack Johnson

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN
Updated 5:30 PM ET, Sat April 21, 2018

(CNN) President Donald Trump said Saturday that he is considering granting a posthumous pardon to boxer Jack Johnson on the advice of actor Sylvester Stallone.

"Sylvester Stallone called me with the story of heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson. His trials and tribulations were great, his life complex and controversial," Trump tweeted. "Others have looked at this over the years, most thought it would be done, but yes, I am considering a Full Pardon!"

Johnson, the first African-American world heavyweight boxing champion, was convicted in 1913 under the Mann Act for taking his white girlfriend across state lines for "immoral" purposes. The Mann Act purported to prevent human trafficking for the purpose of prostitution, but critics have argued it was applied inconsistently to criminalize African Americans and those with dissenting political views.

Johnson was convicted by an all-white jury in less than two hours and was imprisoned for a year. The sentence and imprisonment destroyed the boxing career of the "Galveston Giant." He died in 1946.

In 2016, then-Sen. Harry Reid and Sen. John McCain, along with Reps. Peter King and Gregory Meeks, petitioned the Obama administration to grant a pardon to Johnson. The bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter to the White House asking that the pardon be given in honor of the 70th anniversary of the boxer's death.

"While it is unfortunate that this unjust conviction was not corrected during the boxer's lifetime, a posthumous pardon today represents the opportunity to reaffirm Jack Johnson's substantial contributions to our society and right this historical wrong," the letter said.
The White House did not immediately return CNN's request for further comment on the President's tweet.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/21/polit...don/index.html

Trump considering pardon for boxer Jack Johnson

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN
Updated 3:24 AM ET, Mon April 23, 2018

(CNN)President Donald Trump said Saturday that he is considering granting a posthumous pardon to boxer Jack Johnson on the advice of actor Sylvester Stallone.

"Sylvester Stallone called me with the story of heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson. His trials and tribulations were great, his life complex and controversial," Trump tweeted. "Others have looked at this over the years, most thought it would be done, but yes, I am considering a Full Pardon!"

Johnson, the first African-American world heavyweight boxing champion, was convicted in 1913 under the Mann Act for taking his white girlfriend across state lines for "immoral" purposes. The Mann Act purported to prevent human trafficking for the purpose of prostitution, but critics have argued it was applied inconsistently to criminalize African Americans and those with dissenting political views.

Johnson was convicted by an all-white jury in less than two hours and was imprisoned for a year. The sentence and imprisonment destroyed the boxing career of the "Galveston Giant." He died in 1946.

In 2016, then-Sen. Harry Reid and Sen. John McCain, along with Reps. Peter King and Gregory Meeks, petitioned the Obama administration to grant a pardon to Johnson. The bipartisan group of lawmakers sent a letter to the White House asking that the pardon be given in honor of the 70th anniversary of the boxer's death.

"While it is unfortunate that this unjust conviction was not corrected during the boxer's lifetime, a posthumous pardon today represents the opportunity to reaffirm Jack Johnson's substantial contributions to our society and right this historical wrong," the letter said.

In March 2017, Sen. Cory Booker joined with McCain, King and Meeks to reintroduce a resolution urging Johnson's pardon.

"Despite this resolution passing both chambers of Congress several times in recent years, no pardon has been issued to date," McCain said in a statement at the time. "I hope President Trump will seize the opportunity before him to right this historical wrong and restore a great athlete's legacy."

The White House did not immediately return CNN's request for further comment on the President's tweet.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/21/polit...don/index.html

This sounds like a very much deserved pardon, and I hope it's granted soon by President Trump. It's hard to understand why Obama refused this request for pardon, other than he didn't care or didn't want to give McCain any credit for pursuing it all these years. I think Trump will fix this. I sure hope so.