Trump says he may pardon deceased boxing great Muhammad Ali

Darcy Costello and Associated Press Courier Journal

Published 2:04 p.m. UTC Jun 8, 2018

This story is developing and will be updated. 

President Donald Trump is considering a posthumous pardon for Louisville's deceased boxing great and humanitarian icon Muhammad Ali, the Associated Press reported Friday. 

It is unclear what charge he is considering a pardon for given that Ali's conviction for draft evasion was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971. 

The latest: Legal experts say a Trump pardon for Muhammad Ali makes no sense

In a statement, Muhammad Ali's attorney Ron Tweel said "there is no conviction from which a pardon is needed."

"We appreciate President Trump's sentiment, but a pardon is unnecessary," he wrote. "The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Muhammad Ali in a unanimous decision in 1971."

In 1967, Ali refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army, citing religious reasons. His objection was the country's most famous conscientious objector case. He was already a top heavyweight boxer when he refused induction into the U.S. Army, famously saying, "I ain't got no quarrel with them Viet Cong." 

He was immediately stripped of his heavyweight title and convicted of draft evasion.

But when a superior court reverses someone's conviction, it is as if that conviction never happened, according to Louisville attorney Marc Murphy, who handles federal, white-collar criminal defense cases for the Stites & Harbison law firm. 

Additionally, President Jimmy Carter pardoned all Vietnam War draft dodgers in 1977.

Read about Ali's fight over Vietnam here 

Read a timeline of Ali's life, including the overturned conviction, here

Rewind: Remembering Muhammad Ali two years after his death

Muhammad Ali lost everything in opposing the Vietnam War. But in 1968, he triumphed

Reporters Morgan Watkins and Tim Sullivan contributed to this story.

Darcy Costello: 502-582-4834; dcostello@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @dctello. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/darcyc.

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https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2018/06/08/donald-trump-pardon-muhammad-ali-boxing/684061002/

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