{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=bd9ce5c1-41c8-4039-b551-c5784bc30566", "SENATOR JOHN McCAIN AND CONGRESSMAN PETER KING WRITE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA URGING POSTHUMOUS PARDON FOR JACK JOHNSON", "2013-12-20", "2013", "2013-12", "Republican", "House", "AZ", "John McCain", "M000303", "www.mccain.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Congressman Peter King (NY-02) today wrote a letter to President Obama asking him to grant a long-overdue presidential pardon to the late Jack Johnson, the world\u2019s first African American heavyweight boxing champion, who was unjustly convicted under the Mann Act in 1913 for transporting his white girlfriend across state lines. In 2009, the U.S. Congress unanimously approved a resolution supporting a posthumous pardon for Mr. Johnson.\u00a0\r\n\r\nDecember 20, 2013\r\nThe Honorable Barack Obama\r\nThe President of the United States of America\r\nThe White House\r\n1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW\r\nWashington, DC 20500\r\n\r\nDear Mr. President,\r\nWe are writing on the behalf of the members of the United States Congress who in 2009 unanimously approved a resolution, S.CON.RES.29, supporting a posthumous pardon for Jack Johnson. As you know, Jack Johnson, the first African American Heavyweight Boxing Champion, was unjustly convicted under the Mann Act in 1913 for transporting his white girlfriend across state lines.\r\nPer your response to our last letter to you on Jack Johnson, we are aware that presidential pardons are rarely issued on a posthumous basis. We are, however, also aware that the idea of a posthumous pardon is not without precedent, given President Clinton\u2019s pardon of Henry O. Flipper in 1999 and President Bush\u2019s pardon of Charles Winters in 2008.\r\nWe ask you today in the 100th year after Jack Arthur Johnson\u2019s racially motivated conviction that you grant him a much overdue presidential pardon. We appreciate your consideration of this request and we look forward to your response.\r\nSincerely,\r\nSenator John McCain\r\nCongressman Peter King\r\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ContentRecord_id=bd9ce5c1-41c8-4039-b551-c5784bc30566"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3510431163012981, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}