So, justice has finally come for Clyde Kennard - 46 years late, but finally.
Forrest County Circuit Judge Bob Helfrich slammed the gavel on the state's wrongdoing Wednesday, in declaring Kennard innocent of the bogus charges for which he was convicted in Mississippi's troubled racial past.
As The Clarion-Ledger revealed, Kennard went to prison in 1960 for a crime he never committed after refusing to abandon his quest to enroll at the then all-white University of Southern Mississippi.
Kennard, a decorated Korean War veteran, was convicted for possessing stolen chicken feed and sentenced to serve time at the State Penitentiary at Parchman.
Even the late segregationist Gov. Ross Barnett, who allowed Kennard to go home from prison in 1963 to die of cancer, conceded Kennard was innocent.
But it took Judge Helfrich to put the issue to rest, with eloquent words: "It did begin here, and, yes, it should end here," he said. "To me, this is not a black-white issue. It is a right-wrong issue. To correct that wrong, I'm compelled to do the right thing and declare Mr. Kennard innocent."
The mystery is why it took so long.
Gov. Haley Barbour could have issued a pardon. His objection that it would be unprecedented to pardon someone who is no longer living seemed weak, even if he did have the law on his side.
But Barbour did support the court action and had filed his own petition supporting the exoneration. On Wednesday, Barbour praised the court's action.
As former Gov. William Winter - who with former 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Charles Pickering Sr., former state Supreme Court Justice Reuben Anderson, and former Circuit Judge Barry Ford., championed exonerating Kennard - put it, the message was crucial:
"Let the word go out from the courthouse in Forrest County, Miss., that we are committed to justice in Mississippi for all people of every race and every station and of every circumstance."
Justice came 46 years late, but justice did finally come for Clyde Kennard.
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