(James Brown) Godfather of Soul is granted pardon

AP via Augusta Chronicle ^ | Web posted Tuesday, May 20, 2003 | Amy Geier Edgar

[weegee]

COLUMBIA - Singer James Brown was granted a pardon Tuesday for his past crimes in South Carolina.

The Godfather of Soul appeared before the state Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services on Tuesday. Agency spokesman Pete O'Boyle said Mr. Brown had friends, family and state lawmakers speak on his behalf.

The seven-member board granted Mr. Brown a pardon for his crimes in 1988 and 1998. After the board made its decision, Mr. Brown sang God Bless America to the crowd, said his publicist Dan Forman.

"God bless America on this beautiful day. I hope my pardon shows the youth that America is a beautiful country," said Mr. Brown, 70, of Beech Island, in a statement.

In the spring of 1988, he was arrested on charges of beating up his third wife, Adrienne.

That September, Mr. Brown, high on PCP and carrying a shotgun, entered an insurance seminar next to his Augusta office. Police said he asked seminar participants whether they were using his private restroom.

Police chased Mr. Brown for a half-hour from Augusta into South Carolina and back to Georgia. The chase ended when police shot out the tires of his truck.

Mr. Brown was sentenced to six years in prison after he was convicted of assault, failure to stop for a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest, carrying a pistol and drug possession. He spent 15 months in a prison near Columbia and 10 months in a work-release program in Aiken before being paroled Feb. 27, 1991.

In 1998, police found marijuana and guns at Mr. Brown's home when sheriff's deputies took him into custody on a probate judge's order as a "mental transport."

[Tijeras_Slim]

I feel GOOD!

[sirshackleton]

UHHH! Git down wid yo' bad self!!!

[onedoug]

The Reverend Cleophus....

[RichInOC]

"Can I hit her and quit her?"
"Yeah!"
"Can I hit her and quit her?"
"Yeah!"
"Can I hit her and quit her?"
"Yeah!"

[widgysoft]

Ain't it Funky!

[summer]

I knew that you would now. :)

[martin_fierro]

I had no idea staid ol' J.B. was so damn funky.

That must be the reason he sits next to Terry.

[martin_fierro]

Let's try that again. HUH! OW! MERCY!

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Mama! Come here quick!
And bring me that lickin' stick!

[keithtoo]

Pappa's got a brand new bag.....of freedom!
"The Hardest Workin' Man in the Pardon Business"

[newgeezer]

This stinks. A pardon of all crimes? Parole, sure. But, a pardon?

So, now, his record is clean. No longer a felon.

This stinks.

[weegee]

The main thing I think it would clear (although I don't know his past) is that it could permit James Brown to legally have a gun. Any further drug busts though and that could go again.

Did he have a felony conviction? It could restore is ability to vote too.

His wife died several years ago while getting liposuction (a chemical reaction from the anesthetic and a drug she had used recently).

[weegee]

"I - LOVE - living in America"

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Hey, going crazy every ten years is not bad. Or is it being crazy all the time but only getting caught every ten years?

[betty boop]

Think you've pictured the wrong James Brown! The "right one" is "The Hardest-Working Man in Show Biz," the guy who gave us "Livin' in America" (a song-paeon about the greatness of living in the land of the free, the good ol' U.S. of A.), not the football player.... :^)

[martin_fierro]

yeah, I know. Just joshin' ol' Tijeras there. <|:)~

[Tijeras_Slim]

Sometimes at work I get the red "x". :-(

[mwyounce]

I may be imagining, but didn't he try to get off these charges before on some diplomatic immunity plea because someone had called him "The Ambassador of Soul?"

[mwyounce]

OK... Never mind. I found it, it was Mrs. James Brown:

http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/mrsbrown.asp