A federal judge said the Justice Department illegally rescheduled the execution of the only woman on the federal death row, which could set up the Trump administration to schedule the execution after President-elect Joe Biden would take charge
WASHINGTON – A federal judge said the Justice Department illegally rescheduled the execution of the only woman in the federal death row, which could constitute the Trump administration to schedule the execution after the arrest possession of President-elect Joe Biden.
U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss also released an order from the director of the Bureau of Prisons that had set Lisa Montgomery’s execution date for Jan. 12. , this month, but Moss delayed execution after his lawyers hired coronavirus to visit his client and asked him to extend the time to file a clemency petition.
Moss banned the Prisons Office from executing Lisa Montgomery before the end of the year and officials rescheduled her execution date to Jan. 12. .
“The Court, accordingly, concludes that the director’s order setting a new execution date while the Court’s stay was in force“ was not in accordance with the law, ”Moss wrote.
A Justice Department spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Under the order, the Prisons Office cannot reschedule Montgomery’s execution until at least Jan. 1. Generally, according to Department of Justice guidelines, an inmate sentenced to death must be notified at least 20 days prior to execution. Due to the judge’s order, if the Justice Department chooses to reschedule the date in January, it could mean that execution would be scheduled after Biden took office on January 20th.
A Biden spokesman has told The Associated Press that the president-elect “opposes the death penalty now and in the future” and would work as president to end his use in office. But Biden representatives have not said whether the executions would stop immediately once Biden takes office.
Montgomery was convicted of the murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, 23, in the city of Skidmore, northwest Missouri, in December 2004. He used a rope to strangle Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant. and then a kitchen knife to cut the girl from the womb, authorities said.
Prosecutors said Montgomery removed the baby from Stinnett’s body, took the boy away and tried to leave the girl as his own. Montgomery’s legal team has argued that his client suffers from serious mental illness.
“Given the severity of Ms. Montgomery’s mental illness, the sexual and physical torture she endured throughout her life, and the connection between her trauma and the facts of her crime, we appeal to President Trump to grant her pity and we commute her sentence to life imprisonment, “Montgomery’s attorney Sandra Babcock said in a statement.
Two other federal inmates are scheduled to be executed in January, but they have tested positive for coronavirus and their lawyers are also looking for delays in their executions.
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