A Maryland federal court stated it cannot direct an upcoming execution to be carried out in the government’s Indiana death chamber, adding a new hurdle to the Trump administration’s plans to execute three inmates before Inauguration Day (article available here).
In the December 29, 2020 ruling, the Maryland federal district court stated it lacks authority to revise a final judgment and order against the backdrop of a federal law which requires federal executions to be carried out under the law of the state in which the defendant was sentenced.
Maryland, where a federal jury returned a death sentence against Dustin Higgs in 2000, abolished capital punishment in 2013. That led the government to ask the court to amend its prior judgment and order and direct that Higgs be executed in Indiana, under Indiana law. His execution is set for January 15, 2021, five days before the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden, who has stated his opposition to capital punishment.
“Higgs merits little compassion. He received a fair trial and was convicted and sentenced to death by a unanimous jury for a despicable crime,” the court wrote. “That said, the Court believes it lacks the authority to do as the Government asks and will deny the Government’s motion.”
The issue of how to apply the law governing federal executions in instances where the sentence was imposed in a state that abolished capital punishment “has not been teed up this clearly before,” Higgs’ lawyer said.
In the ruling, the court took issue with the timing of the scheduled execution. “It is not lost on the Court that this execution is scheduled to occur just five days before the inauguration of a new president who has stated his opposition to capital punishment.” “Higgs is set to be the fifth and final federal inmate to be executed in the waning days of the current administration.
Higgs, who tested positive for Covid-19 earlier this month, is also challenging his execution in a separate case pending in Washington, arguing his diagnosis should bar his execution on cruel and unusual punishment grounds.
The case is United States v. Higgs, No. PJM 98-520 (D. Md. Dec. 29, 2020).