A federal judge said the Justice Department has unlawfully opposed the execution of the only woman on federal death row and may have set up the Trump administration to plan the execution after President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
WASHINGTON – A federal judge said the Justice Department has unlawfully opposed the execution of the only woman on federal death row and may have set up the Trump administration to plan the execution after President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
Judge Randolph Moss of the U.S. District Court also cleared an order from the director of the Bureau of Prisons setting Lisa Montgomery’s execution date as Jan. 12. Montgomery was due to be put to death at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana earlier this month, but Moss delayed the execution after her lawyers contracted the coronavirus while visiting their client and asked him to extend the time to file a Petition for clemency.
Moss banned the Bureau of Prisons from executing Lisa Montgomery’s execution before the end of the year, and officials are moving her execution date to Jan. 12. But Moss ruled Wednesday that the agency was also prohibited from rescheduling the date while there was a stay.
“The court accordingly concludes that the director’s order setting a new execution date while the court’s suspension was in effect was not in accordance with the law,” Moss wrote.
A spokesperson for Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Under the warrant, the Bureau of Prisons cannot reschedule Montgomery’s execution until at least January 1. In general, according to the guidelines of the Department of Justice, a person sentenced to death must be notified at least 20 days before the execution. If the Justice Department chooses to move the January date, the judge’s order could mean the execution would take place after Biden’s inauguration on January 20.
A spokesman for Biden told The Associated Press that the president-elect “opposes the death penalty now and in the future” and would work as president to end its use in office. But Biden’s representatives have not said whether executions will be halted immediately once Biden takes office.
Montgomery was convicted of the murder of 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett in the town of Skidmore in northwestern 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 out. the womb, authorities said.
Prosecutors said Montgomery removed the baby from Stinnett’s body, took the child with her, and tried to pretend the girl was hers. Montgomery’s legal team has argued that their client is suffering from serious mental illness.
Given the severity of Ms. Montgomery’s mental illness, the sexual and physical torture she has endured throughout her life, and the connection between her trauma and the facts of her crime, we appeal to President Trump to show her mercy and sentence to life imprisonment, ”one of Montgomery’s lawyers, Sandra Babcock, said in a statement.
Two other federal inmates are scheduled to be executed in January, but have tested positive for the coronavirus and their lawyers are also seeking postponement of their executions.
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