As a supreme court justice, Neely led reform of the State mental hospitals and juvenile penal schools.
Decisions written by him extended greater protections to mental patients, and wiped out the old, brutal state reform school system for both boys and girls, forcing the substitution of real therapeutic models.
From 1980 until his retirement from the Court in 1995, Neely was among the best-known judges in the United States: he wrote regularly for national publications such as The Atlantic Monthly, The New Republic, and The Wall Street Journal.
[10] In 1985 while serving a rotation as Chief Justice, Neely dismissed his secretary, Tess Dineen from her job because she wanted to stop baby-sitting his 4-year-old son.
While Neely defended his right to order his staff to perform duties such as baby-sitting, collecting his laundry, and typing books he has written, he stepped down as Chief Justice before his rotation ended.
[11] In 1989 he sued Trans World Airlines for $38,000 after his baggage arrived 70 minutes late at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
[13] Neely received national attention for controversial remarks at American Legion youth leadership conferences.