Casey was born in Midfield, Alabama, United States in 1951.
He graduated from Jones Valley High School and from the University of Alabama before joining the reporting staff at the Birmingham News in 1973.
He was promoted to the editorial board in 1979, the same year he married his wife, Margaret.
In 1991, Casey, along with Harold Jackson and Joey Kennedy won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing for their series, "What They Won't Tell You About Your Taxes", analyzing inequities in Alabama's tax system and proposing needed reforms.
In 1994 he was nominated for a second Pulitzer as well as for the National Education Writers Award.