The Department of Justice will appeal the 5th Circuit’s recent decision vacating reputed Klansman James Ford Seale’s 2007 conviction for kidnapping. The 5th decided that the federal statute of limitations on kidnapping had expired, but Jerry Mitchell reports where DoJ thinks there’s a play:
At the time of the crime, there was no statute of limitations on kidnapping, and there is no statute of limitations on kidnapping today.
But in 1972 the court revised the law to eliminate the death penalty as punishment for kidnapping. The three-judge panel concluded that at that moment, the statute fell under the five-year statute of limitations for noncapital offenses and should be applied to all past offenses.
“While we are mindful of the seriousness of the crimes at issue, we cannot abdicate our duty to faithfully apply a valid limitations period,” DeMoss wrote.
Although the odds would appear to be against the department on appeal, one expert sees grounds for the legal stance.
“The decision appears contrary to well-settled Supreme Court decisions that refuse to apply amendments to a statute retroactively, absent a clear statement from Congress to the contrary,” said Janis McDonald, professor at Syracuse University College of Law and co-director of the Cold Case Justice Initiative.
How do you see their odds?
I think their odds are good. The proposition that new laws do not operate retroactively, unless plainly stated in the statute, and especially in the cases of criminal statutes, is very strong in our jurisprudence. When weighed against the proposition of a SOL for a serious crime, which must be strictly statutorially supported, then I think the former trumps the latter under these circumstances.
And if there is a way for the DOJ to prevail in this battle, without bastardizing our other laws in the process, then the Supreme Court will likely find a way to doing what is best for society and justice.
The “do right” rule is in favor of the DOJ in this battle. And as indicated, the law may very be as well. That is a tough combo to beat.
First, DoJ needs to move for a rehearing en banc. Or has such a motion already been denied in CA5?
A frigging technicality…Please forgive me if I vomit if he gets out. The klukers would just love that.
And please lawd don’t let Jim Hood assist, with his current legal case batting average the Feds will wind up paying Seale not only per diem but they’ll throw in a cash bonus for the inconvenience at being brought to justice.