Native American man seeks further delay of federal execution
Attorneys for the only Native American on federal death row are asking a judge to delay his upcoming execution while they argue that the procedures should be consistent with Arizona law.
Death Penalty
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Appeal rejected for Ison, who pleaded guilty to 5 killings
An Indiana appeals court has rejected the latest request by a man convicted of fatally shooting five people in southeastern Indiana in 2011 who sought to appeal his guilty pleas and sentence in those slayings.
Resumed federal executions further divide country
The deaths of Daniel Lewis Lee, Wesley Ira Purkey and Dustin Honken roused the anger of civil liberties lawyers, who say the executions were carried out in a rushed and even unlawful manner. The overarching question in public discussion has been “why” — why did Attorney General William Barr make the executions a priority? And why were they carried out while the country was dealing with a pandemic, racial unrest and a looming election?
Protesters restricted from Terre Haute execution site sue ISP
Protesters kept away from the federal prison in Terre Haute during executions last month have filed a lawsuit in federal court, arguing the Indiana State Police violated their First Amendment rights by erecting roadblocks and preventing them from holding vigils immediately outside the entrance of the facility.
Justice Department schedules 2 additional federal executions
The Justice Department scheduled two additional federal executions on Friday, an announcement that comes weeks after it fought off last-minute legal challenges and successfully resumed federal executions following a 17-year pause.
Stafford: Executions indict the justice system at just the wrong time
At a time when the American criminal justice system is under the most intense scrutiny of most of our lives, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling allowing the execution of Daniel Lewis Lee was slap in the face of the victims’ family members who opposed it and a bizarre, out-of-touch, wholly mean-spirited form of justice.
US executes 3 in first federal death sentences since 2003
The federal government last week carried out its first executions in almost two decades after the US Supreme Court in separate 5-4 rulings turned away last-minute appeals from two condemned inmates’ legal teams. Their executions, and that of a third defendant, were carried out by lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute.
Maley: Pro bono appointments are necessary obligation for justice
I’m still processing the news that this morning my court-appointed death-row client, Wesley Purkey, was executed. I was his pro bono counsel on three civil-rights/conditions of confinement claims in the Southern District of Indiana. So as I wrestle now — and hopefully for some time — with the legal and moral aspects of capital punishment that otherwise have been remote, it seems appropriate and timely to discuss the needs and opportunities for pro bono service in civil cases in our local federal courts. Both are robust.
One reporter, two executions and haunting last words
Daniel Lewis Lee, a condemned man and convicted murderer, was asked if he wanted to make a final statement from the execution chamber at the federal prison in Terre Haute. He did. He leaned his head up and we locked eyes. “You’re killing an innocent man,” Lee said, looking directly at me. Those were his last words. He said them to me.
Iowa meth kingpin is third executed by US government this week
The U.S. government on Friday afternoon put to death an Iowa chemistry student-turned-meth kingpin convicted of killing five people, the third execution by the federal government this week at the federal prison in Terre Haute.
Iowa drug kingpin who killed 5 set for execution Friday
A meth kingpin from Iowa who killed five people, including two young girls, is scheduled Friday to become the third federal inmate to be executed this week, following a 17-year pause in federal executions.
US executes 2nd man in a week; lawyers said he had dementia
The United States on Thursday carried out its second federal execution this week, killing by lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute a Kansas man whose lawyers contended he had dementia and was unfit to be executed.
Judge halts execution amid claims inmate isn’t mentally fit
A judge on Wednesday halted the execution of a man said to be suffering from dementia, who had been set to die by lethal injection at the federal prison in Terre Haute in the federal government’s second execution after a 17-year hiatus.
Executed man’s defense team blasts ‘shameful’ process
The defense team for a man executed in Terre Haute on Tuesday morning in the first federal death sentence carried out in nearly two decades blasted what they called a “shameful” middle-of-the-night process that they contend should awaken public outrage.
US carries out first federal execution in nearly 2 decades
The U.S. government on Tuesday carried out the first federal execution in almost two decades, putting to death a man who killed an Arkansas family in a 1990s in a plot to build a whites-only nation in the Pacific Northwest. The execution came over the objection of the victims’ family.
Victims’ relatives most vocal opponents of man’s execution
Family members of three people slain in Arkansas more than 20 years ago have been among the most vocal opponents to the federal government’s plan to execute one of the men convicted of killing their loved ones.
Federal bid to execute first inmate in 17 years for Arkansas murders halted
The federal government’s efforts carry out the first federal execution in nearly two decades on Monday in Terre Haute, over the objection of the family of the victims and after a volley of legal proceedings over the coronavirus pandemic, was halted Monday, hours after the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals would have allowed the execution to proceed.
Justice Department plows ahead with execution plan next week
The Justice Department is plowing ahead with its plan to resume federal executions next week for the first time in more than 15 years, despite the coronavirus pandemic raging both inside and outside prisons and stagnating national support for the death penalty.
7th Circuit temporarily stays federal execution set for next week
The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily stayed an execution scheduled for next week after finding that two issues raised by a Terre Haute inmate were “worthy of further exploration.” Wesley Ira Purkey’s execution was scheduled for July 15, but now it will be stayed “pending the completion of proceedings in the Seventh Circuit.”
Priest sues to stop federal execution over coronavirus risk
A Zen Buddhist priest, who is a spiritual adviser to one of three federal death row inmates scheduled to be executed this month, filed a lawsuit Thursday arguing the Bureau of Prisons is putting him at risk for the coronavirus by moving forward with executions during a nationwide pandemic.