Posthumous pardon given to comic Bruce

December 24, 2003|Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Comedian Lenny Bruce was granted a posthumous pardon by Governor George E. Pataki yesterday for a nearly 40-year-old obscenity conviction prompted by a foul-mouthed political commentary.

Pataki called his decision to issue the first posthumous pardon in New York state history "a declaration of New York's commitment to upholding the First Amendment."

The campaign to win a pardon for the groundbreaking 1960s comedian was supported by his former wife and his daughter, more than two dozen First Amendment lawyers, and entertainers including Robin Williams, the Smothers Brothers, and Penn and Teller.

Floyd Abrams, a leading First Amendment lawyer and member of the campaign, said Pataki's decision "is really a major step forward in recognizing the mistreatment of Lenny Bruce personally and of the First Amendment that Bruce defended."

During a November 1964 performance at the Cafe Au Go Go in New York City's Greenwich Village, Bruce used more than 100 obscenities.

Undercover police detectives attended the show, and later testified against Bruce. The charge was giving an obscene performance.

He was convicted following a six-month trial. Bruce mishandled his own appeal, and, beset by legal and financial problems, died of a drug overdose in 1966 with the conviction still on the books. He was 37.