Final Executions Under Trump Admin Delayed Due to COVID-19 Diagnoses
‘akin to waterboarding’
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A federal judge has blocked the executions of the last federal inmates who were set to be put to death under the Trump administration. The judge delayed the executions of Dustin Higgs and Corey Johnson because they have both contracted COVID-19 at the Terre Haute facility that houses death row. The judge said Higgs and Johnson have “suffered significant lung damage” from COVID-19 that would cause the execution to be extraordinarily painful for them, “akin to waterboarding.”
The news comes just one day after a judge blocked the execution of Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row, until she goes through a hearing to determine if she is mentally competent. The Trump administration has executed 10 people since last July after a 17-year hiatus.