Editing William Calley (section)

===Appeals===
Three days after Calley's conviction, Nixon ordered Calley removed from prison and placed under house arrest at Fort Benning.<ref>{{cite news|title=Executive Branch|work=CQ Weekly Report|date=April 9, 1971|page=830}}</ref> On August 20, 1971, Lt. Gen. [[Albert O. Connor]], Commanding General of Third Army,<ref name="Charlton">{{cite news |last=Charlton |first=Linda |date=April 17, 1974 |title=Calley Sentence Is Cut To 10 Years By Head of Army |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/04/17/archives/calley-sentence-is-cut-to-10-years-by-head-of-army-secretary-cites.html |access-date=March 27, 2025 |work=The New York Times |pages=1, 7}}</ref> in his capacity as the [[Convening authority (court-martial)|convening authority]], reduced Calley's sentence to 20 years in prison.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bigart |first=Homer |date=August 21, 1971 |title=Calley Sentence Is Cut to 20 Years From Life Term |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/08/21/archives/calley-sentence-is-cut-to-20-years-from-life-term-decision-by-3d.html |access-date=March 27, 2025 |work=The New York Times |pages=1, 9}}</ref> As required by law, his conviction and sentence were reviewed and sustained by the [[United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals|United States Army Court of Military Review]], and the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces|United States Court of Military Appeals]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Rich|first=Randi B.|title=Federal Court Scope of Review Over Military Habeas Corpus Cases|journal=Memphis State University Law Review|date=Fall 1975|page=83|postscript=none}}; {{cite news|title=Military Appeals Court Upholds Conviction of Calley|work=The New York Times|date=December 22, 1973|page=50}}</ref>

Calley appealed his conviction to the [[United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia]]. On February 27, 1974, Judge [[J. Robert Elliott]] granted a [[habeas corpus|writ of ''habeas corpus'']] and set Calley free on bail. The court held that Calley had been improperly convicted due to extensive pre-trial publicity, the military court's refusal to permit certain defense witnesses, the refusal of the [[United States House of Representatives]] to release testimony about the My Lai massacre taken in executive session, and inadequate notice of charges.<ref>{{cite news |last=King |first=Wayne |date=February 28, 1974 |title=Calley Free on $1,000 Bond By Order of Civilian Judge |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/02/28/archives/calley-free-on-1000-bond-by-order-of-civilian-judge-calley-set-free.html |access-date=March 27, 2025 |work=The New York Times |pages=1, 17}}</ref> As the Army appealed Judge Elliott's decision, [[United States Secretary of the Army|Secretary of the Army]] [[Bo Callaway|Howard H. Callaway]] reviewed Calley's conviction and sentence as required by law. After reviewing the conclusions of the court-martial, Court of Military Review, and Court of Military Appeals, Callaway reduced Calley's sentence to just 10 years. Under military regulations, a prisoner is eligible for parole after serving one-third of his sentence. This made Calley eligible for parole after serving three years and four months.<ref name=Charlton />

A three-judge panel of the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit]] reversed the district court's ruling and returned Calley to custody on June 13, 1974.<ref>{{cite news |date=June 14, 1974 |title=Calley's Freedom On Bail Is Ended By Appeals Court |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/06/14/archives/calleys-freedom-on-bail-is-ended-by-appeals-court.html |access-date=March 27, 2025 |work=The New York Times |page=7}}</ref> Calley once more appealed his conviction to Judge Elliott. He asked the Circuit Justice of the Fifth Circuit, [[Lewis F. Powell Jr.]], to set him free on bail while his appeal was pending, but Justice Powell denied the request.<ref>{{cite news|title=Powell Denies Calley Bid To Be Free During Appeal|work=The New York Times|date=August 20, 1974|page=41}}</ref>

The district court once more found the pre-trial publicity, the denial of defense witnesses, and improperly drawn charges had denied Calley a fair trial, and ordered him released on September 25, 1974.<ref>{{cite news |last=King |first=Wayne |date=September 26, 1974 |title=Court Orders Calley Freed But the Army Will Appeal |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/09/26/archives/court-orders-calley-freed-but-the-army-will-appeal.html |access-date=March 27, 2025 |work=The New York Times |pages=1, 17}}</ref> Calley was released on bail while the government appealed the ruling. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals heard the Army's latest appeal ''[[en banc]]''. The full court ruled 8-to-5 to overturn the district court, and ordered Calley's conviction and sentence reinstated on September 10, 1975.<ref>{{cite news |date=September 11, 1975 |title=Appeals Court Reinstates Calley Court-Martial Conviction in My Lai Killings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/09/11/archives/appeals-court-reinstates-calley-courtmartial-conviction-in-my-lai.html |access-date=March 27, 2025 |work=The New York Times |page=26}}</ref> Because Calley had less than 10 days to serve before his possible parole, and because Army Secretary Callaway had expressed his intention to parole Calley as soon as possible, the Army refused to incarcerate Calley for the remaining 10 days of his sentence.<ref>{{cite news|title=Army Says Calley Will Be On Parole|work=The New York Times|date=September 12, 1975|page=13}}</ref>

Calley appealed the Fifth Circuit's ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, but it declined to hear his case on April 5, 1976.<ref>{{cite news |last=Oelsner |first=Lesley |date=April 6, 1976 |title=High Court Denies Appeal By Calley |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/04/06/archives/high-court-denies-appeal-by-calley.html |access-date=March 27, 2025 |work=The New York Times |pages=1, 25}}</ref>