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Government Carries Out First Federal Execution in 17 Years Government Carries Out First Federal Execution in 17 Years
(about 4 hours later)
WASHINGTON — Hours after the Supreme Court rejected a last-minute legal-challenge on a 5-4 vote, the Justice Department put a 47-year-old man to death for his role in the 1996 murder of a family of three, the first federal execution in more than 17 years. WASHINGTON — Hours after the Supreme Court rejected a last-minute legal challenge on a 5-4 vote, the Justice Department put a man to death for his role in the 1996 murder of a family of three, the first federal execution in more than 17 years.
The death row prisoner, Daniel Lewis Lee, 47, a former white supremacist who renounced his ties to that movement, was executed by lethal injection at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., the Bureau of Prisons said. He is the first of three federal death row inmates scheduled for execution this week. The death row prisoner, Daniel Lewis Lee, 47, a former white supremacist who renounced his ties to that movement, was executed by lethal injection at the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., the Bureau of Prisons said. He is the first of three federal inmates scheduled for execution this week.
“You’re killing an innocent man,” Mr. Lee said, shortly before he was pronounced dead at 8:07 a.m. His death concluded an informal moratorium on federal capital punishment. Mr. Lee’s death ended an informal moratorium on federal capital punishment.
The Justice Department announced its intention last summer to resume the federal death penalty and to employ a new procedure to carry it out — using a single drug, pentobarbital — after several botched executions by lethal injection renewed scrutiny of capital punishment. The Trump administration announced last summer its intention to resume the federal death penalty and to employ a new procedure to carry it out — using a single drug, pentobarbital — after several botched executions by lethal injection renewed scrutiny of capital punishment.
But up until the final hours before Mr. Lee’s death, the government had to fight off legal challenges both to the single-drug technique and to complications of carrying out the death penalty in the midst of a pandemic. But up until the final hours before Mr. Lee’s death, the government had to fight off legal challenges based on use of the single-drug technique and the complications of carrying out the death penalty during a pandemic.
On Monday, a federal judge had delayed the execution, saying that questions about the constitutionality of the lethal injection procedure had not been fully litigated.On Monday, a federal judge had delayed the execution, saying that questions about the constitutionality of the lethal injection procedure had not been fully litigated.
The Justice Department immediately appealed the ruling by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the United States District Court in Washington, D.C. Judge Chutkan issued a preliminary injunction against the planned execution of Mr. Lee, citing the “extreme pain and needless suffering” that could result from the lethal injection protocol the government planned to use. The Justice Department immediately appealed the ruling by Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of the United States District Court in Washington, D.C. In issuing a preliminary injunction against the execution of Mr. Lee, Judge Chutkan cited the “extreme pain and needless suffering” that could result from the lethal injection protocol the government planned to use.
The Supreme Court’s unsigned 5-to-4 ruling early Tuesday morning said pentobarbital has been used in over 100 executions “without incident” and had been upheld by the Supreme Court and appeals courts. The Supreme Court’s unsigned 5-to-4 ruling early Tuesday morning said pentobarbital had been used in over 100 executions “without incident” and had been upheld by the Supreme Court and appeals courts.
“The plaintiffs in this case have not made the showing required to justify last-minute intervention by a federal court,” the unsigned order said, quoting from a decision last year. “‘Last-minute stays’ like that issued this morning ‘should be the extreme exception, not the norm.’”“The plaintiffs in this case have not made the showing required to justify last-minute intervention by a federal court,” the unsigned order said, quoting from a decision last year. “‘Last-minute stays’ like that issued this morning ‘should be the extreme exception, not the norm.’”
The court said it was its responsibility “to ensure that method-of-execution challenges to lawfully issued sentences are resolved fairly and expeditiously,” so that “the question of capital punishment” can remain with “the people and their representatives, not the courts, to resolve.”The court said it was its responsibility “to ensure that method-of-execution challenges to lawfully issued sentences are resolved fairly and expeditiously,” so that “the question of capital punishment” can remain with “the people and their representatives, not the courts, to resolve.”
In dissent, Justice Stephen G. Breyer, joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, repeated their longstanding doubts about the constitutionality of the death penalty. “The resumption of federal executions promises to provide examples that illustrate the difficulties of administering the death penalty consistent with the Constitution,” he wrote.In dissent, Justice Stephen G. Breyer, joined by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, repeated their longstanding doubts about the constitutionality of the death penalty. “The resumption of federal executions promises to provide examples that illustrate the difficulties of administering the death penalty consistent with the Constitution,” he wrote.
In a second dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Ginsburg and Elena Kagan, said the court had acted with dangerous haste.In a second dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Ginsburg and Elena Kagan, said the court had acted with dangerous haste.
“Today’s decision illustrates just how grave the consequences of such accelerated decision making can be,” Justice Sotomayor wrote. “The court forever deprives respondents of their ability to press a constitutional challenge to their lethal injections, and prevents lower courts from reviewing that challenge.”“Today’s decision illustrates just how grave the consequences of such accelerated decision making can be,” Justice Sotomayor wrote. “The court forever deprives respondents of their ability to press a constitutional challenge to their lethal injections, and prevents lower courts from reviewing that challenge.”
Last month, the Supreme Court let stand an appeals court ruling that found the government was in compliance with the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994, which requires executions to be carried out “in the manner prescribed by the law of the state in which the sentence is imposed.” Judge Chutkan had found the government in violation of the law.Last month, the Supreme Court let stand an appeals court ruling that found the government was in compliance with the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994, which requires executions to be carried out “in the manner prescribed by the law of the state in which the sentence is imposed.” Judge Chutkan had found the government in violation of the law.
Last week, family members of Mr. Lee’s victims sued the Justice Department, arguing that traveling to the execution site would put them at risk of contracting the coronavirus. A district court agreed and granted a temporary delay in the execution. Late Sunday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed that decision. Last week, family members of Mr. Lee’s victims sued the Justice Department, arguing that traveling to the execution site would put them at risk of contracting the coronavirus. A district court agreed and granted a temporary delay in the execution. Late Sunday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed that decision. The Supreme Court also declined the family members’ petition early Tuesday morning.
According to his lawyers, Mr. Lee was strapped to a gurney for the final four hours of his life, awaiting execution. According to his lawyers, Mr. Lee was strapped to a gurney for the final four hours of his life, while the legal challenges played out.
Two men stood beside him in the execution chamber, a U.S. Marshal and a spiritual adviser, whom the Bureau of Prisons referred to as a “Appalachian pagan minister.” None wore a mask. Two men stood beside him in the execution chamber, a U.S. Marshal and a spiritual adviser, whom the Bureau of Prisons referred to as an “Appalachian pagan minister.” Neither wore a mask.
“I didn’t do it,” Mr. Lee said, according to a report from journalists who witnessed the scene. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I’m not a murderer.” He claimed the judge in his trial in Arkansas overlooked DNA evidence that proved he was across the country at the time of the murders. “I didn’t do it,” Mr. Lee said, according to a report from journalists who were at the scene. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my life, but I’m not a murderer.” He claimed the judge in his trial in Arkansas overlooked DNA evidence that proved he was across the country at the time of the murders.
After a senior bureau official told him that he was to be put to death, Mr. Lee shook his head. As the drug was administered to his veins, he raised his head to look around. Then his breaths became heavy. In just a few moments, his chest remained still, his lips turned blue, and his fingers became ashy. He was pronounced dead at 8:07 a.m. After a senior bureau official told him that he was to be put to death, Mr. Lee shook his head. As the drug was administered to his veins, he raised his head to look around. Then his breaths became heavy. In just a few short moments, his chest remained still, his lips turned blue, and his fingers became ashy. He was pronounced dead at 8:07 a.m.
The high court struck down the death penalty in 1972, arguing that the current laws constituted “cruel and unusual punishment.” Four years later, it reversed that decision, amid rising rates of violent crime. Since the federal government reinstated its policy on capital punishment, only three men have been put to death. Most recently, Louis Jones Jr. was executed in 2003 for the rape and murder of a female soldier. The federal government is scheduled to carry out two more executions this week. A court has issued a temporary stay in the case of Wesley Ira Purkey, 68, whom the Justice Department scheduled for execution on Wednesday for the 1998 killing and dismembering of a teenage girl in Kansas City.
Dustin Lee Honken, 52, convicted of killing three adults and two young girls in 1993, will be executed on Friday, barring any last-minute stays. Another prisoner, Keith Dwayne Nelson, 46, will face execution in August for the rape and murder of a 10-year-old girl in 1999.
On Tuesday, a federal judge in Indiana dismissed a suit brought by spiritual advisers for Mr. Purkey and Mr. Honken that argued for a delay on the grounds that their health could be jeopardized because of the coronavirus crisis if they entered the Terre Haute penitentiary.
The Supreme Court struck down the death penalty in 1972, arguing that it constituted “cruel and unusual punishment.” Four years later, it reversed that decision, amid rising rates of violent crime. Since then, some states have carried out regular executions, but only three men have been put to death by the federal government. Most recently, Louis Jones Jr. was executed in 2003 for the rape and murder of a female soldier.
Although dozens of federal inmates have been sentenced to death during the hiatus, 22 states and the District of Columbia have abolished capital punishment altogether, and an additional three have governor-imposed moratoriums.
President Trump has advocated the death penalty since well before he entered the Oval Office. In 1989, he called for the Central Park Five, a group of Latino and Black teenagers wrongly convicted of raping a jogger, to be put to death. More recently, he has called for the death penalty for drug dealers and those convicted of killing police officers.
His campaign has criticized his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., for opposing capital punishment “even for white supremacist murderers!”
The executions scheduled for the summer come amid a presidential election, a pandemic and intensive attention on policing and criminal justice after the death of George Floyd.
Critics of capital punishment argue that Black offenders and perpetrators of white victims are disproportionately sentenced to death. The four men scheduled to be executed this summer are white, but 42 percent of prisoners on federal death row are Black.
Despite the race of the four inmates chosen by the Justice Department, Samuel Spital, the director of litigation for the N.A.A.C.P. Legal Defense Fund, said the resumption of the federal death penalty would have the greatest effect on Black and Latino prisoners.
“The system is infected with racism,” he said.
In the final years of Mr. Lee’s life, several members of his victims’ family — as well as the trial judge and prosecutor — pleaded with the government to commute his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His accomplice in the crime, described as the mastermind during the trial, was not sentenced to death.
“It is shameful that the government saw fit to carry out this execution during a pandemic,” Ruth Friedman, Mr. Lee’s lawyer and the director of the Federal Capital Habeas Project, said in a statement. “It is shameful that the government saw fit to carry out this execution when counsel for Danny Lee could not be present with him, and when the judges in his case and even the family of his victims urged against it.”
Adam Liptak contributed reporting.Adam Liptak contributed reporting.