Montgomery Advertiser - Judge Allows Former Alabama DR Inmate to Pursue Parole Lawsuit | Judith Ann Neelley's Death Sentence Was Commuted by Gov.
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Nov 12, 2014, 1:30:37 PM11/12/14
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http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/crime/2014/11/12/tutwiler-inmate-can-pursue-parole-lawsuit/18915135/
November 12, 2014 - 12:07 p.m. CST
Judge: Tutwiler inmate can pursue parole lawsuit
by Brian Lyman | Montgomery Advertiser
A Tutwiler inmate who says a 2003 statute specifically -- and unconstitutionally -- denied her the chance of parole will be allowed to pursue a suit against the law
A federal judge Monday declined motions from the state to dismiss the suit brought by Judith Ann Neelley, convicted in 1983 of the brutal murder of a 13-year-old Georgia girl. Neelley initially received a death sentence for the crime, but then-Gov. Fob James commuted her sentence to life in prison in 1999.
The commutation would have made Neelley eligible for parole this year. However, the Alabama Legislature passed a law in 2003 -- retroactive to 1998 -- that made any commutations of death sentences automatically life without parole. Citing the 2003 law, the Board denied Neelley's parole request earlier this year.
Neelley filed suit in April, arguing that the law violated the U.S. Constitution's bans on ex post facto laws and bills of attainder. The state argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed because the statute of limitations had run out and that the 2003 law was not punitive and, therefore, could not be considered either an ex post facto statute or a bill of attainder.
U.S. Chief District Judge Keith Watkins, however, ruled Monday that the law was punitive in nature, and rejected the state's claims that the law was not meant to target her, citing media coverage of the law and lawmakers' own words about the act.
"Although the Act does not mention Plaintiff by name, the facts in Plaintiff's amended complaint plausibly support her allegation that she was targeted by the Legislature's amendment . . . not only because the legislators sponsoring the bill allegedly vocalized their intent to "fix" Governor James's supposed error, but also because Plaintiff is the only person to receive a commuted sentence since 1962, and because the Legislature suspiciously made the Act retroactive to four months prior to the January 1999 commutation," Watkins wrote.
Requests for comment from the Alabama attorney general's office and attorney Julian McPhillips, representing Neelley, were not immediately returned Wednesday morning.
Neelley was convicted of murdering Lisa Ann Millican in 1982. According to reports, Millican was sexually abused, injected with drain cleaner and shot while standing on the edge of Little River Canyon near Fort Payne. Millican's body was discovered lodged in a tree trunk.
Neelley's attorneys do not dispute the facts of the case, but have argued she was dominated by her husband Alvin, who died in Georgia in 2005 while serving a life sentence. The Neelleys are believed to have murdered a Georgia woman before kidnapping Millican from a shopping center in Rome, Ga.
The jury at Neelley's 1983 trial voted 10-2 for life imprisonment, but the presiding judge in the case overruled the decision and imposed the death penalty. In a 2002 interview with The Post, a weekly paper based in Cherokee County, James did not cite a specific reason for commuting the sentence, but said the jury's initial recommendation of life sparked his interest in the case.
Neelley had argued that the law violated the Alabama Constitution; however, Watkins dismissed that part of the lawsuit, noting federal courts are not the venue for allegations of state constitutional violations.
/ / / / /
Steve Hall
The StandDown Texas Project
PO Box 13475
Austin, TX 78711
512.879.1675 (o
512.627.3011 (m
shall78711 (Skype
sh...@standdown.org
www.StandDown.org
November 12, 2014 - 12:07 p.m. CST
Judge: Tutwiler inmate can pursue parole lawsuit
by Brian Lyman | Montgomery Advertiser
A Tutwiler inmate who says a 2003 statute specifically -- and unconstitutionally -- denied her the chance of parole will be allowed to pursue a suit against the law
A federal judge Monday declined motions from the state to dismiss the suit brought by Judith Ann Neelley, convicted in 1983 of the brutal murder of a 13-year-old Georgia girl. Neelley initially received a death sentence for the crime, but then-Gov. Fob James commuted her sentence to life in prison in 1999.
The commutation would have made Neelley eligible for parole this year. However, the Alabama Legislature passed a law in 2003 -- retroactive to 1998 -- that made any commutations of death sentences automatically life without parole. Citing the 2003 law, the Board denied Neelley's parole request earlier this year.
Neelley filed suit in April, arguing that the law violated the U.S. Constitution's bans on ex post facto laws and bills of attainder. The state argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed because the statute of limitations had run out and that the 2003 law was not punitive and, therefore, could not be considered either an ex post facto statute or a bill of attainder.
U.S. Chief District Judge Keith Watkins, however, ruled Monday that the law was punitive in nature, and rejected the state's claims that the law was not meant to target her, citing media coverage of the law and lawmakers' own words about the act.
"Although the Act does not mention Plaintiff by name, the facts in Plaintiff's amended complaint plausibly support her allegation that she was targeted by the Legislature's amendment . . . not only because the legislators sponsoring the bill allegedly vocalized their intent to "fix" Governor James's supposed error, but also because Plaintiff is the only person to receive a commuted sentence since 1962, and because the Legislature suspiciously made the Act retroactive to four months prior to the January 1999 commutation," Watkins wrote.
Requests for comment from the Alabama attorney general's office and attorney Julian McPhillips, representing Neelley, were not immediately returned Wednesday morning.
Neelley was convicted of murdering Lisa Ann Millican in 1982. According to reports, Millican was sexually abused, injected with drain cleaner and shot while standing on the edge of Little River Canyon near Fort Payne. Millican's body was discovered lodged in a tree trunk.
Neelley's attorneys do not dispute the facts of the case, but have argued she was dominated by her husband Alvin, who died in Georgia in 2005 while serving a life sentence. The Neelleys are believed to have murdered a Georgia woman before kidnapping Millican from a shopping center in Rome, Ga.
The jury at Neelley's 1983 trial voted 10-2 for life imprisonment, but the presiding judge in the case overruled the decision and imposed the death penalty. In a 2002 interview with The Post, a weekly paper based in Cherokee County, James did not cite a specific reason for commuting the sentence, but said the jury's initial recommendation of life sparked his interest in the case.
Neelley had argued that the law violated the Alabama Constitution; however, Watkins dismissed that part of the lawsuit, noting federal courts are not the venue for allegations of state constitutional violations.
/ / / / /
Steve Hall
The StandDown Texas Project
PO Box 13475
Austin, TX 78711
512.879.1675 (o
512.627.3011 (m
shall78711 (Skype
sh...@standdown.org
www.StandDown.org
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