By B John Burns
February 26, 2010

Ruthann Veal is not home free yet, despite what you may hear on the local news today or read in the papers.  But her victory today in the Supreme Court is a very useful one, nevertheless.

Ruthann was convicted in 1995 of a murder she committed when she was 14 years old, and sentenced to life imprisonment.  After the United States Supreme Court held in 2005 in Roper v. Simmons that capital punishment for individuals who commit their offenses before 18 violates the Eight Amendment, Ms. Veal filed a postconviction relief petition, alleging that the same principles should apply to a life sentence.  

At every level, her petition was dismissed as untimely under the one-year limitation of Iowa Code § 822.3.   Represented by Phil Mears of Iowa City and attorneys of the Equal Justice Initiative of Montgomery, Alabama, Ms. Veal argued that the limitation should not apply, as she was basing her claim for relief on a recent change in the law.

Writing for a unanimous court, Justice Appel took the argument one step further.  A sentence that violates the Eighth Amendment is an illegal sentence, that can be corrected at any time.  Iowa R. Crim.P 2.24(5)(a).  The question is whether the rule of criminal procedure trumps the civil limitation imposed in Chapter 822.

Justice Appel found that it does.  That’s the holding of the Veal v. Iowa.  Nice work, Phil.

***

Bryan A. Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative spoke at the Public Defender's Conference in Iowa City in 2006

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