Gov. John Bel Edwards says he will approve the posthumous pardon of Homer Plessy.
Last week, the state pardon board recommended a pardon for the man whose name was on the Supreme Court case that allowed segregation in the United States, Plessy v. Ferguson. That case stood for decades until it was overturned by Brown v. Board.
Plessy was a free person of color, the son of French-speaking Creoles who came to New Orleans from what was then Haiti during the revolution started by Toussaint l'Ouverture. He was arrested for boarding a white-only train car in New Orleans in June 1862. He was found guilty, and that conviction stayed on his record until his death in 1925.
Today on his radio show, Edwards said "Certainly, I'm going to sign it," the AP tweeted.
He says he wants to look for an "appropriate way" to handle the signing ceremony with Plessy descendants, the tweet states.
Here's the tweet:
. @LouisianaGov says of the posthumous pardon recommendation for Homer Plessy: "Certainly, I'm going to sign it." He says he wants to look for an "appropriate way" to handle the signing ceremony with Plessy descendants. Background: https://t.co/9WniNmokHU #lalege #lagov
— Melinda Deslatte (@MelindaDeslatte) November 17, 2021
