Law Humor

Florida's outgoing governor, Charlie Crist, said this week that he will officially ask for a posthumous pardon for Jim Morrison, the Doors singer who was convicted in 1970 of indecent exposure after a prosecution that many believe was politically motivated. Or anti-hippie, anyway.

This has been in the works since at least 2007, when a couple of super-fans wrote Crist and asked him to consider a pardon. Crist said at the time he was "seriously considering" it, especially after he found out he and Morrison both graduated from Florida State, but not much happened. That might have been because Crist was gearing up at the time to run for another office, but that went rather poorly and so now he has time to tie up some loose ends.

Under Florida law, pardons are considered by the governor and his Cabinet. At least two of the three cabinet members must vote with the governor to approve a pardon, and at least one says he is on board. The next meeting is on December 9.

Crist has been getting "dozens" of emails on the topic, both pro and con. One woman wrote to say she had been in the front row at the concert in 1969 and that Morrison did not expose himself. But another woman, who presumably was not at the concert, said that she considered Morrison a "sexual predator." "Do you consider a sexual predator designation so low on the ladder of crimes that he should receive a pardon?" said Alyce Burke, although of course there was no such thing as a "sex offender" list at the time, and the evidence that he actually did this is pretty thin anyway. "Quite a strong statement to be made by you," Burke told Crist, "while the state and the country battle with sexual predators." Ma'am, I share your concern but there is no reason to bring up the TSA in every single comment you make.