# No pardon for Billy the Kid. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 31, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947 "2010-12-31T15:25:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/1 "2010-12-31T15:25:44Z")
This is serious stuff for Billy. Without this pardon, he’ll have trouble getting a good job, renting an apartment, or possibly voting. He may not be able to serve on a jury, join the military or own a firearm. He’s screwed anyway you look at it. I really hope he appeals this. Edit. [Link would be nice](http://www.aolnews.com/2010/12/31/bill-richardson-no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/2 "2010-12-31T15:31:53Z")
I say we don’t pardon him until he says he’s sorry. He’s had 129 years to make an apology and not a word. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/3 "2010-12-31T15:32:20Z")
I was glad to hear it. The notion of pardoning a man who’s been dead for more than a century, was unquestionably guilty of multiple murders without any justification, and who died in a shootout was stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/4 "2010-12-31T15:40:16Z")
I have a good photo of my wife standing next to Billy the Kid’s gravestone in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. After the present one was put there in the 1940s, it was stolen and recovered no less than three times, so they finally put a steel cage around it. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/5 "2010-12-31T15:45:13Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I have a good photo of my wife standing next to Billy the Kid’s gravestone in Fort Sumner, New Mexico. After the present one was put there in the 1940s, it was stolen and recovered no less than three times, so they finally put a steel cage around it. So, apparently they aren’t letting him out of prison either. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/6 "2010-12-31T15:47:11Z")
Better safe than sorry! ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/7 "2010-12-31T16:39:36Z")
Has he offered any evidence of his rehabilitation? ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/8 "2010-12-31T17:13:34Z")
> [@cuauhtemoc](#): > > Has he offered any evidence of his rehabilitation? [obligatory quotation]Kid, are you rehabilitated ?[/oq] ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/9 "2010-12-31T17:44:34Z")
> [@detop](#): > > [obligatory quotation]Kid, are you rehabilitated ?[/oq] “Sargeant, you got a lot a damn gall to ask me if I’ve rehabilitated myself, I mean, I mean, I mean that just, I’m sittin’ here on the bench, I mean I’m sittin here on the Group W bench ‘cause you want to know if I’m moral enough join the army, burn women, kids, houses and villages after bein’ a litterbug.” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/10 "2010-12-31T18:25:27Z")
[insert Jim Morrison pardon joke here. I can’t think of one.] ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/11 "2010-12-31T19:00:19Z")
I’m trying to think…would there have been ANY, even a minute, meaningful change for anyone involved had a pardon been issued? btw…has anyone corrected Garrett’s family and told them, “No, if a pardon is issued, that would NOT mean that your ancestor shot an innocent man.” ? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/12 "2010-12-31T19:16:04Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I’m trying to think…would there have been ANY, even a minute, meaningful change for anyone involved had a pardon been issued?.. A new History Channel program. Employment. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/13 "2010-12-31T19:52:00Z")
I don’t like pardons like this either. There’s too much we don’t know. History is never 100% accurate. Anyway, the outlaw image is what made the guy famous. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/14 "2011-01-01T02:37:28Z")
And that outlaw image brings tourist dollars to New Mexico. I think Bill Richardson is looking at the bottom line. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/15 "2011-01-01T03:09:45Z")
> [@KRC](#): > > And that outlaw image brings tourist dollars to New Mexico. I think Bill Richardson is looking at the bottom line. This, plus Roswell. (OTOH, “Truth or Consequences” didn’t pan out so well…) ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/16 "2011-01-01T05:03:11Z")
I’m all for everybody else abiding by their own code of morality, but I am curious as to what kind of demon-possessed idiot came up with this idea. Best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/17 "2011-01-01T05:12:09Z")
If he can be a hero to Bobby Brady then he should be pardoned. I like the part when Mr Brady brings, Mr Quigley from _All In The Family_ over to tell Bobby how his father was shot by Jesse James and Bobby is like, “Too bad he didn’t have an extra bullet for you.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/18 "2011-01-01T05:17:36Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > I’m all for everybody else abiding by their own code of morality, but I am curious as to what kind of demon-possessed idiot came up with this idea. It had to do with a deal he supposedly made with the Governor of Mexico to offer testimony in another murder case in exchange for a pardon. The Governor allegedly welched on the deal after the testimony. The issue was brought up now not because anyone though Billy the Kid was actually innocent or a great guy, but out of an argument that New Mexico had a legal obligation to honor its deal (even if it was a deal with the Devil). Bill Richardson decided that there wasn’t clear enough evidence that such a deal had existed, but implied that if dispositive evidence of a deal had existed, he would have felt the state of New Mexico. was still obligated to honor it. This was not an effort to declare Billy the Kid to be factually innocent, but an effort that the state should have paid off on a deal. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/19 "2011-01-01T05:18:25Z")
[CNN.com](http://CNN.com)’s story on it: [No pardon for Billy the Kid - CNN.com](http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/12/31/new.mexico.billy/index.html?iref=allsearch) Gov. Richardson made no bones about the fact that this was a publicity stunt. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2011, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947/20 "2011-01-01T07:14:50Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It had to do with a deal he supposedly made with the Governor of Mexico to offer testimony in another murder case in exchange for a pardon. The Governor allegedly welched on the deal after the testimony. The issue was brought up now not because anyone though Billy the Kid was actually innocent or a great guy, but out of an argument that New Mexico had a legal obligation to honor its deal (even if it was a deal with the Devil). Indeed. No one in his right mind would ever suggest an innocent man had been convicted or killed. The Kid was a bad 'un all right, rotten to the core. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-pardon-for-billy-the-kid/565947.md?page=2)