Blackwell v. Parratt

Seth E. Blackwell, Sr. is a prisoner in the Nebraska Penal Complex serving a term of life imprisonment imposed on January 6, 1968 by the District Court of Lancaster County, Nebraska.

After protracted litigation, the history of which is fully reviewed in the opinion of the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska (Judge Urbom), 403 F.Supp. 759 (D.Neb.1975), Blackwell’s petition for writ of habeas corpus was granted on the ground that he was not competent to stand trial on the murder charge which was the basis of his conviction. The warden of the Nebraska Penal Complex has…