DOJ Requests SCOTUS Allow Execution of 4 Child Murderers

A clash between Washington, D.C. judge Tanya Chutkan and Solicitor General Noel Francisco puts the first scheduled federal execution in 16 years on hold.

Capital Punishment

After a long hiatus, capital punishment could be making a comeback as Attorney General William Barr revived the death penalty in July, permitting the Bureau of Prisons to use a single-drug pentobarbital lethal injection.

The first long-stalled execution is set for Dec. 9. Going all the way back to 1999, Daniel Lewis Lee was sentenced to death by a jury for murdering a family, among which was an 8-year-old girl. Three others were also to receive capital punishment for committing the crime of murdering children.

And recently, regarding the executions, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan put the scheduled punishments on hold, citing a violation of a provision of the Federal Death Penalty Act by the “uniform procedure,” pointing out technicalities on the word “manner” and the provision that states federal executions must be carried out “in the manner prescribed by the law of the state.”

Solicitor General Noel Francisco was quite displeased with the decision and technicality:

“That reading is implausible. … For virtually the entire history of the United States, beginning with the First Congress, federal statutory references to the ‘manner’ of execution have been understood – including by this Court – to refer to the mechanism for inflicting the death penalty, not to every ‘procedural detail’ that might be employed in an execution,” he said, further adding that Chutkan’s decision also means that states could “effectively veto a federal execution simply by making unavailable state officials or resources that are required by state law for the execution.”

He filed an appeal to the Supreme Court late Dec. 2, asking for the ruling to be put on hold or tossed out completely. One could only guess what will happen, as the Supreme Court has been having internal rifts over capital punishment recently, leaving both approval and rejection plausible.