Bill Richardson Says No

And it's a good thing too:

"I have decided not to pardon Billy the Kid because of a lack of conclusiveness, and also the historical ambiguity as to why Governor Wallace reneged on his pardon," Richardson said of the convicted murderer who in 1881 killed two guards as he escaped the gallows, only to be shot and killed that summer by Sheriff Pat Garrett in New Mexico.

"I felt I could not rewrite history," Richardson told the Associated Press after the broadcast about the man sometimes known as William H. Bonney, Henry Antrim or Henry McCarty.

At this late date I would have no qualms about pardoning Billy the Kid for the murder of Sheriff Brady (Lincoln County was the most corrupt place in the Universe at that time and a pardon makes sense). Nevertheless, I wouldn't want the Kid to be pardoned for the murder of deputies Bell and Ollinger, who were killed in the line of duty as simple jailers. Whatever your opinion about the Lincoln County War, and whatever your opinion about politics, in general, the Rule of Law demands that jailers be protected when they perform their official function. My understanding is that Richardson understood this, and the proposal he mulled over would have recognized the distinction, but there is always the possibility of confusion. Better to let the matter slide....