Rape victim pleads for notice of Pardons Board hearings as required

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) — State law and the Nebraska Constitution appear to clearly require that victims of crime be notified when their perpetrator is up for a hearing before the State Board of Pardons.

But that didn’t happen in September when John Arias, a man convicted of first-degree sexual assault of his estranged wife, won a pardon from the three-member board.

“Where do my rights fit in?” asked Jody Snogren, who said nightmares of the violent attack in 1993 have returned since the meeting.

On Friday, a state senator joined with Snogren to propose a strengthening of state laws to ensure that victims of crimes get a chance to be heard at such hearings.

‘A real issue’

“It’s an awareness issue and it’s a real issue,” State Sen. Teresa Ibach of Sumner told the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee.

Ibach’s proposal, Legislative Bill 220, would require the Board of Pardons — which consists of the governor, attorney general and secretary of state — to notify victims of serious crimes via certified mail if a person convicted in that offense has a pardons board hearing coming up or was given a pardon.

Ibach pointed out that in 1996, Nebraska voters approved a constitutional amendment on crime victims’ rights that requires victims to be “informed of, be present at, and make an oral or written statement” at criminal court proceedings, including the Board of Pardons.

A law was passed in 2004, the senator said, that requires the Board of Pardons to adopt rules to provide such notification, if a victim requests it at the time of a conviction.

But that didn’t happen when Snogren’s attacker went before the Pardons Board in September, and Ibach said she could not determine whether the board had adopted rules and regulations for notification of victims, as required.

Snogren said Friday that she was unaware, back in 1993, of the need to request notification of such hearings.

She said she couldn’t imagine her ex-husband being granted a Pardons Board hearing, must less getting a pardon.

Access to information

But there was another snag.

A spokesperson for the Board of Pardons said Friday that the board, since it was moved into the Nebraska Crime Commission in 2019 and out of the State Parole Board, doesn’t have access to information about crime victims that it could use to generate a notice.

The spokeswoman said a review is underway on how to address that problem.

Ibach said that existing laws might need to be strengthened to assure that the information is being communicated to the Board of Pardons and that victims are notified.

The Judiciary Committee took no action on LB 220 after Friday’s public hearing, but at least two members of the committee, Omaha Sen. Wendy DeBoer and Lincoln Sen. Suzanne Geist, expressed shock that victims aren’t receiving notice of such hearings.

The pardon granted to Arias on a 2-1 vote. Then-Gov. Pete Ricketts and then-Attorney General Doug Peterson, who voted for the pardon, said Arias had been a model citizen since his release and was involved in counseling other military veterans who committed crimes. Secretary of State Bob Even opposed a pardon for Arias.

The pardon became controversial because some American Legion members wore their official Legion caps to the Board of Pardons hearing in September to show support for Arias, who joined the Legion while in prison. That led to complaints about the veterans organization appearing to take an official stance on the pardon and sexual assault.

Such caps are considered part of the Legion uniform and are supposed to be worn only at Legion functions.

The Nebraska American Legion’s executive committee voted last month to require those who wore their caps at the meeting to publish an apology in the Legion’s newspaper.

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