Senate urges presidential pardon for ex-boxing champ Jack Johnson

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 11:56 p.m. ET

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The U.S. Senate is calling for a presidential pardon for former heavyweight champion Jack Johnson.

The Senate passed an amendment, which was introduced by John McCain (R-AZ) and Harry Reid (D-NV), Thursday that seeks a posthumous pardon for Johnson, who was the first black heavyweight champion. In 1913, Johnson was charged with violating the Man Act after transporting a white woman across state lines. The act made it a crime to transport a person between state lines for prostitution.

"Jack Johnson is a boxing legend and pioneer whose reputation was wrongly tarnished by a racially-motivated conviction more than a century ago," McCain said in a release. "While this resolution has passed both chambers of Congress several times in recent years, President Obama has refused to take action even though the practice of issuing posthumous pardons has clear precedent. I thank Senator Reid for his continued partnership on this issue and urge the House to send the resolution to the President's desk. It's past time for our country to right this historical wrong and restore this great athlete's legacy."

Johnson's reign as heavyweight champion ended in 1915, when he brought a woman whom he was dating across state lines.

"I'm pleased that Senator McCain and I have secured passage of this resolution that corrects a historical injustice," Reid said in the same release. "Jack Johnson was the greatest athlete of his time, a trailblazer for African-Americans and had his life and legacy tarnished by a racially motivated criminal conviction. As we have done for years, Senator McCain and I will continue to fight to restore his legacy and ensure that Jack Johnson is remembered for what he was, an incredible boxer sent to prison by an unfair system. I hope the President will pardon Jack Johnson and repair the legacy of this great man."

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