The execution of the only woman in the federal death row has been halted after a federal judge ruled that the Justice Department illegally rescheduled the execution.
Lisa Montgomery had been executed this month, but U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss delayed the execution after Montgomery’s lawyers contracted the coronavirus while visiting his client, The Associated Press reported.
Moss banned the Prisons Office from carrying out the execution before the end of the year and officials rescheduled the execution for January 12, but Moss ruled Wednesday that the agency was also banned from rescheduling the date while there was a stay in place, according to Moss. in the AP.
The Court, accordingly, concludes that the director’s order setting a new execution date while the Court’s suspension was in force “was not in accordance with the law,” Moss reported.
A Justice Department spokesman did not immediately respond to comments.
According to the order, the date of execution cannot be rescheduled until at least January 1, that is, the date can be moved after the day of the inauguration, when the president-elect Joe Biden
Joe BidenJudge launches Republican Party lawsuit to close Georgia polls after business hours The Fauci Serenade with first-time attendees Joe Biden may be president of middle-class workersThe administration is taking over because the Department of Justice guidelines state that a prisoner must receive a notice at least 20 days before the date of execution.
Montgomery was convicted in 2007 of the 2004 strangulation of a woman who was eight months pregnant at the time. Montgomery pulled the unborn child, who survived, from Bobbie Jo Stinnet’s womb after the murder.
A Biden spokesman told the AP that the president-elect “opposes the death penalty now and in the future” and would work during his presidency to end his use in office.
But Biden representatives have not said whether execution would stop immediately once Biden is in office, the AP noted.
Dozens of Democrats signed a letter headed by Rep. Ayanna Pressley
San Francisco Mayor Ayanna Pressley says Harris’ replacement will choose “a real blow to the African American community.” Progressive Democrats say they support Trump’s higher direct payment request. (D-Mass.) Earlier this month, he called on the Biden administration to prioritize the abolition of the death penalty once in office.
In addition, a group of Democratic senators is pushing an investigation into the Trump administration’s decision to end a 17-year hiatus over federal executions this year.
The federal government executed more prisoners in 2020 than all states that still serve the combined death penalty, according to a recent report from the Death Penalty Information Center.