A Pardon Interrupted

By Amber Nimocks,

Published March 25, 2011 at 11:44 AM EDT

North Carolina Senator Neal Hunt, a Republican from Wake County, didn't anticipate much reaction from within his party when he proposed a resolution earlier this week to pardon William Holden, a North Carolina governor impeached in 1871. Reconstruction-era Democrats removed Holden from office after the governor sent troops to quell violence spurred by white supremacists in Caswell and Alamance counties.

The incident was known as the Kirk-Holden War. Hunt's move to pardon Holden spurred anonymous opponents to distribute a letter vilifying Holden in the Senate chamber. Now, the resolution has been sent to committee.

Amber Nimocks

Amber Nimocks came to The State of Things in January 2009. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a survivor of 15 years in the newspaper business. As a reporter and editor, her posts have included such exotic locales as her hometown of Fayetteville, Robeson County, Wilmington, Raleigh and Fort Worth, Texas.

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Frank Stasio

Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.

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