Justice for Jim Morrison? Too Bad He's Dead

Florida's outgoing governor is proposing a pardon for the late singer

By Josh Grossberg Nov 17, 2010 2:45 PMTags
Jim MorrisonCBS Photo Archive/Getty Images

This could be the end, my friend, of Jim Morrison's rap sheet.

Lame duck Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has announced he wants a posthumous pardon for the iconic Doors frontman, who was arrested and convicted for indecent exposure and profanity following a 1969 concert in Miami.

Guess the Gov's a big fan.

"I've decided to do it, for the pure and simple reason that I just think it's the right thing to do. In some ways it seems like a tragic conclusion to a young man's life to have maybe this be a lasting legacy, where we're not even sure that it actually occurred," Crist told the New York Times . "The more that I've read about the case and the more I get briefed on it, the more convinced I am that maybe an injustice has been done here."

Morrison died in 1971 in Paris at the age of 27. But two years prior, the legendary singer's showmanship was in full bloom in the Sunshine State at a Doors show at the Dinner Key Auditorium, when a drunken Morrison nearly caused a riot by exposing himself onstage and launching into a profanity-laced tirade.

The "People Are Strange" crooner was arrested, convicted on the two misdemeanors, fined $500 and sentenced to six months in the slammer. However, Morrison never did the time since the case was on appeal at the time of his death.

Crist, who just lost his race for the U.S. Senate earlier this month, suggested the rocker may have been railroaded, citing a lack of, um, hard evidence regarding the indecent exposure charge at his trial in justifying his decision to seek the pardon.

"My heart bleeds for he and his family that this may not have even ever happened, yet it's unfortunately currently part of his record," said the outgoing governor.

The four-member Florida Board of Executive Clemency, of which Crist is a member, will consider the matter at a hearing set for Dec. 9.

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