There has been no execution in 17-years, but the current administration revived capital punishment.
Higgs and Johnson were judged guilty for the deaths of seven people in Virginia, part of the group scheduled for executions. Later the victim's family cannot be reached for comment on his execution. He committed the crimes in U.S.-owned land (government), the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center.Īccording to the victim's families, his death sentence is right. He was tried in a federal court, not in state court. The case is in Maryland Higgs got convicted for killing three women in 1996 at Prince George's County. on early Wednesday morning with a lethal injection at the Terre Haute, Indiana, prison. On Tuesday night, the last appeal made to stop the death sentence failed, and the Supreme Court gave the go signal for Lisa Montgomery's execution, 52. The Justice Department filed a notice on Tuesday evening that will appeal that Chutkan's ruling is overturned. The federal execution of Dustin John Higgs, which is compounded by COVID-19, should be considered.Īlso read: Prisoners to Be Executed According to a New Rule: Either Through Gas or Firing Squad It did not last, and the Supreme court, with the dissent of Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan (liberals), allow the continuation of the execution on that night. Last November, she gave the injunction to delay the death sentence of Orlando Hall. Their cases can be heard after the January 20 turnover of the administration and rumors of the abolishment of the death penalty.īut the judge's stay of execution may not be the last word. Having the stay of executions granted to Johnson and Higgs defers their scheduled appointment with a lethal injection. The judge granted a delay of the death sentences to March 16. Adding it violates constitutional protection from cruel and unusual punishments that violates their rights.Ĭhutkan said both Higgs and Johnson would suffer a sensation that is like drowning to waterboarding. If killed with a lethal injection, the edema will be painful before the drug kills them.įurther arguing that the sentenced men will suffer excruciating pain during the lethal injection.
Lawyers of both inmates argue that lung damage from COVID exposure will put them at risk of suffering from fluid in the lungs or edema. Higgs is from Laurel, and Johnson is from Richmond, Virginia, reported The Baltimore Sun. Chutkan, the pandemic is why Higgs, 48, and Cory Johnson, 52, are infected with the coronavirus. He is included as one of the last to be executed in the outgoing administration after the Department of Justice reinstated federal execution.Īccording to Judge Tanya S. COVID-19 concerns have saved the inmate as he is one of those to be executed before January 20. Dustin John Higg's federal execution is stopped on Friday, a federal judge's stay of execution.