Jim Morrison Pardon Dissed by The Doors, Band Members Demand Apology
LOS ANGELES (CBS/AP) The surviving members of The Doors are not impressed with the recent posthumous pardon for frontman Jim Morrison, claiming the singer did not need to be forgiven in the first place.
In fact, the Doors along with the Morrison family are so disgruntled that they have rejected the official pardon and are insisting that the state of Florida, as well as the city of Miami, issue an apology.
According to police, The Doors' lead singer was drunk at a Miami concert in 1969 and exposed himself, which Morrison denied and witnesses at the concert supported; however, Morrison was arrested four days later and charged with lewd and lascivious behavior, reports The Rolling Stone.
Morrison was appealing his conviction when he was found dead in a Paris bathtub in 1971 at age 27.Earlier this month, outgoing Gov. Charlie Crist asked for the pardon which the Clemency Board granted unanimously. Crist said he doubts Morrison actually exposed himself during the March 1, 1969 concert at Miami's Dinner Key Auditorium.
In a statement, the remaining Doors, along with the family, say Morrison's performance that night was "certainly provocative," but "the charges against him were largely an opportunity for grandstanding by ambitious politicians." They say the state and city should issue an apology, expunge the incident from the record and "promise to stop letting culture-war hysteria trump our First Amendment rights."
COMPLETE COVERAGE OF JIM MORRISON CASE ON CRIMESIDER