FN FAL said:
90 years ago.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtmltype=politicsNews&storyID=8116520
Congress Seeks Pardon for Boxing Champion Johnson
Thu Apr 7, 2005 11:52 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers are seeking a presidential pardon for Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion, convicted more than 90 years ago in a racially motivated morals case.
At the height of his career in 1913, the boxer was convicted and sent to federal prison for one year and one day for violating the Mann Act by transporting a white woman across state lines for immoral purposes.
"No one should be punished for choosing to go their own way," said Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, the leader of the congressional effort for a pardon.
"A pardon "would be a strong and necessary symbol to the world of America's continuing resolve to live up to the noble ideals of freedom, opportunity and equal justice for all," McCain said on Wednesday as lawmakers joined professional boxers and other supporters to press their appeal.
The Mann Act of 1910 outlawed the transport of women across state lines for the purpose of prostitution or debauchery, or for "any other immoral purpose."
"Mr. Johnson's conviction was motivated by nothing more than the color of his skin, as such it injured not only Mr. Johnson, but also our nation as a whole," McCain wrote in a letter to President Bush last month.
A pardon would help relieve the nation from the weight of racism and bigotry, the letter said.
Five other senators -- Republicans Orrin Hatch of Utah and Ted Stevens of Alaska and Democrats Harry Reid of Nevada and Edward Kennedy and John Kerry of Massachusetts -- signed the letter urging a full posthumous presidential pardon. Johnson died in an automobile accident in 1946.
