Published on: Sunday, January 10, 2021

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 direct that Higgs be executed in Indiana, under Indiana law. His execution is set for January 15, 2021.

On December 29, 2020, 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. Previous coverage available here. The government appealed the district court's decision.

On Thursday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ordered the case scheduled for remote oral argument on January 27, 2021, at 11:00 a.m.