'1,
RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, a pardon—posthumous or otherwise—allows an individual to be relieved ofthe legal consequences resulting from an arrest or criminal conviction, and can be granted unto deserving individuals who have demonstrated that they have paid their debt to society; and
WHEREAS, when applied to the deceased, a posthumous pardon is an effective healing mechanism that can be used to correct past harms and send a message that the diminished values ofthe past are no longer the values of the present nor future; and
WHEREAS, a posthumous pardon does not carry an interpretation of innocence, but rather is a symbol of remembrance and acknowledging human error in which demonstrable good is felt principally by relatives and friends ofthe deceased—not the deceased, themselves—or simply those moved by the remarkable lives they lived; and
WHEREAS, as of January 2022 an estimated 176 posthumous pardons have been issued in United States history, and nearly all such pardons have been granted at the state level; and
WHEREAS, of the estimated 176 posthumous pardons, roughly 85 percent have been awarded in thc 21st century; and
WHEREAS, nearly 40 percent ofthe posthumous pardons issued in the 21st century have been awarded to ethnic minorities, with only one such pardon awarded to a person of Native American descent; and
WHEREAS, Ira Hayes was an Akimel O'odham, formerly "Pima," Native American and United States Marine during World War I I who is generally known as one of the six flag raisers immortalized in the iconic photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima by Joe Rosenthal; and
WHEREAS, Ira Hayes enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve on August 26, 1942 and shortly thereafter was assigned as a paratrooper to Company K, 3rd Parachute Battalion, 1st Marine Parachute Regiment ofthe I Marine Amphibious Corps; and
WHEREAS, on December 4, 1943, Ira Hayes landed with the 3rd Parachute Battalion on Bougainville and fought against the Japanese as a platoon automatic riflema...
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