Love
finds a way, even in jail.
However two inmates in Nebraska prisons 50 miles
apart can’t get married. Both are convicted murderers. The Department of
Correctional Services declined to bring them together for a ceremony. The determined couple is taking it to court.
In
their complaint filed this morning in Lancaster County District Court, Paul
Gillpatrick and Niccole Wetherell claim “the right to marry is a fundamental
right protected by the United States Constitution that cannot be denied because
the partners to the marriage are incarcerated.”
They request the judge find Corrections violated the constitution and
require a wedding be accommodated.
The case boils down to who gets the
bride to the church.
The lawsuit claims
the couple filled out the necessary paperwork, a “Marriage Intention Form,” but
the request and an appeal through the prison grievance procedure were
denied. Wardens at the Nebraska State
Penitentiary in Lincoln and the Correctional Center for Women in York refused “to
make arrangements to transport” Gillpatrick or Wetherell to the other prison
for a ceremony and “refused to make alternative arrangements” which would
permit a wedding to take place. An
alternative would include exchanging vows by video hook-up.
There
is a policy for prison weddings in Nebraska.
It does not specifically block matrimony between prisoners.
Weddings are allowed “unless the Warden
finds that the marriage presents a threat to security or order of the institution or to public safety.” DCS regulations state corrections employees “will not transport inmates from one institution to another for the
marriage ceremony.” There lies the problem for the engaged couple.
 |
| Paul Gillpatrick (DCS) |
Gillpatrick, 42, and Wetherell, 33, met through a mutual friend in 1998, before they both ended up in jail. In a statement released by their attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, Gillpatrick is quoted saying “she makes me laugh, she brings smiles to my face every day and I want to marry her.”
In 2009 Gillpatrick, murdered Robby Robinson in Omaha. It was a messy case involving meth. He’d killed the man at the request of his
sister, Jennifer Gillpatrick. Both
family members were guilty of second-degree murder.
 |
| Niccole Wetherell (DCS) |
Wetherell went to prison ten years earlier. In 1999 she and two other teenagers were convicted
of participating in the murder of Scott Catenacci in Sarpy County. Presiding Judge Ronald Reagan said the killing had no motive other than being “the
result of idle minds with little or no moral or ethical guidance.”
She's got a life sentence. He's in for 90 years.
The
spokesperson with the Department of Correctional Services, as is standard
procedure when lawsuits are filed, declined comment. (Read the DCS marriage policy here)
Last year DCS also turned down the request of a transgender inmate, Gracy
Sedlak, to marry a former prisoner. A
federal court judge rejected the lawsuit that also challenged the state’s ban
on same sex marriages.
