Miss. Gov. Denies Pardon for Black Veteran

[NNN0LHI]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MISSISSIPPI_PARD...

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Gov. Haley Barbour won't grant a posthumous pardon to a black Korean War veteran who was wrongfully convicted in segregationist Mississippi after he tried to enroll in an all-white university.

Clyde Kennard was convicted of purchasing $25 worth of chicken feed he knew to be stolen in 1960 and sentenced to seven years in prison, but the only witness against him has recanted his testimony. Kennard died in 1963, after being released early because he had intestinal cancer.

Barbour agrees Kennard was wronged but says he won't grant a pardon, despite calls for him to clear the man's name.

"The governor hasn't pardoned anyone, whether they be alive or deceased," Barbour spokesman Pete Smith said Thursday. "The governor seems to think Kennard's rights would have been restored prior to him being governor, if he was still alive."

[Erika]

1. Barbour is a joke

Read where he's moved his state from 50th poorest state to 49th. Louisiana became the poorest.