At 11:09p tonight, the DC Circuit, in a 2-1 decision lifted the district court stays of execution for Corey Johnson and Dustin Higgs. Any en banc request is due by 9a Thursday. 
The district court stayed their executions because Johnson and Higgs have recently been diagnosed with Covid. Two Trump appointees — Katsas and Walker — tonight ruled that *currently* having Covid is no reason to put off executing a person.
Pillard, dissenting, explains that Covid will make the men likely to feel like they're drowning before they are unconscious more quickly than those without Covid.
Pillard, an Obama appointee, is not pleased with this whole macabre Bill Barr-led killing spree:
"Any desire on the part of the government to check two more executions off its list does not justify [the majority's decision]."
"Any desire on the part of the government to check two more executions off its list does not justify [the majority's decision]."
Full decision here: scribd.com/document/49067…
Johnson is scheduled to be executed later today (Thursday), and Higgs is scheduled to be executed on Friday.
As Pillard noted, they would be the 12th and 13th federal executions in the past year — an abhorrent killing spree that should embarrass every single one of us.
As Pillard noted, they would be the 12th and 13th federal executions in the past year — an abhorrent killing spree that should embarrass every single one of us.
In Ohio, by contrast, Cleveland Jackson was originally scheduled to be executed on Wednesday. Back in September, however, Ohio Gov. DeWine, also a Republican, moved his execution date to 2023. hometownstations.com/news/cleveland…
In less than a week, Trump and his killing spree will be over. As many others have made clear, Joe Biden must act to end this inhumanity by quickly commuting the sentences of the remaining people on the federal death row.
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