President Donald Trump is considering a posthumous pardon for boxing great Muhammad Ali, The Associated Press reported Friday morning.
Except Ali has no criminal record.
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In 1967, Ali, arguably at the height of his athletic powers, refused to be inducted into the U.S. Army, citing religious reasons after his conversion to Islam.
He was immediately stripped of his heavyweight title and convicted of draft evasion. He avoided prison while he appealed, and in a case that eventually went to the Supreme Court, the high court in a unanimous 8-0 ruling (Justice Thurgood Marshall recused himself because of his previous involvement in the case as a Justice department official) reversed the conviction that had been upheld by the Fifth Circuit.
Ali's attorney, Ron Tweel, on Friday released a statement in which he thanked the president, but, he added, "a pardon is unnecessary. … There is no conviction from which a pardon is needed."
Some say Ali was proud of his actions in resisting the Vietnam War.
Trump in recent weeks has used his unilateral presidential powers to pardon several people, including another boxing legend in Jack Johnson.
However, when Trump was asked by a reporter if he is thinking about pardoning O.J. Simpson he said, "No, I'm not thinking about pardoning O.J.," according to The Oakland Press.
