Court Rejects James Ford Seale Appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that the statute of limitations had not expired for a Civil Rights era kidnapping charge against reputed Ku Klux Klansman James Earl Seale. The decision could affect dozens of other investigations into crimes of the 1960s.

Seale was convicted in 2007 for the 1964 kidnappings of Charles Eddie Moore and Henry Hezekiah Dee.

The issue raised in the U.S. v. Seale case involved statute of limitations on federal kidnapping charges. In 1964, when the crime took place, kidnapping was a capital crime and there were no statute of limitations on capital crimes.

But in the 1970s, the maximum sentence for kidnapping changed to life in prison and the statute of limitations was set at five years.

Statue of Limitations

Seale's attorneys argued that the same laws that removed the death penalty for kidnapping also set the statutes of limitations, which expired years ago on the 1964 crimes.

A federal judge in Mississippi ruled that the statute of limitations had not expired and a 9-9 vote of the full 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans left that ruling in place. The U.S. Supreme Court decision this week likewise allowed that ruling to stand.

Seale, 73, is serving three life sentences for on federal kidnapping and conspiracy charges in the abductions of Moore and Dee, two black teens who were abducted, beaten, chained to heavy objects and thrown into the Mississippi River, possibly while still alive.

See Also:
High Court Declines 'Mississippi Burning' Case

Background:
The Trial of James Ford Seale

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