MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A spokesman for Alabama's governor says he would like to pardon the Scottsboro Boys, but he lacks the legal authority.
Officials with the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center have sent a pardon request to Gov. Robert Bentley. One of the nine black teenagers falsely accused of raping two white women in 1931 received a pardon from the state parole board in 1976. Clarence Norris was the only one living at the time, and nothing was done for the other eight.
Bentley spokesman Jeremy King said the governor believes it is time to right a wrong for the other eight Scottsboro Boys, and his staff is exploring how to allow for posthumous pardons.
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