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A United States appeals court overturned the stay of execution of the only woman to receive a death sentence handed down by a federal court.
Lisa Montgomery strangled a pregnant woman in Missouri, then isolated her and took her baby in 2004. If executed, Montgomery will be the first federal prisoner to be killed in nearly 70 years, according to the BBC. News.
The execution date was initially set for last month, but was suspended because his lawyers fell ill from Covid-19. The execution was rescheduled for January 12 by the Justice Department, but Montgomery’s attorneys said a date could not be set during the stay, which was approved by a court.
However, on Friday, a jury concluded that this was in accordance with the law, allowing the execution. Montgomery’s advocates said they would file a petition to reconsider the ruling.
The last woman executed by the US government was Bonnie Heady, in 1953, according to US judicial authorities.
Federal executions had been suspended for 17 years, but Donald Trump decided to resume them early last year. If scheduled executions are implemented, Trump will become the president who has targeted the most death sentences in more than a century.
Montgomery’s execution date is just days before President-elect Joe Biden takes office.
Biden, who for decades has been a staunch supporter of the death penalty as a senator in Delaware, now says he will try to end federal executions after taking office.
Who is Lisa Montgomery?
In December 2004, Montgomery traveled from Kansas to Missouri, to the home of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, under the pretext of buying a puppy.
“Once here, Montgomery attacked and strangled Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant, until the victim lost consciousness,” says a court document.
Montgomery then took Stinnett out of the baby, which she took with her and later claimed it was hers.
In 2007, a jury established the death penalty.
Her lawyers say she suffered brain injuries from the beatings she received as a child and that she had mental health problems, so she should not receive the death penalty.
Also read: The greatest serial killer in the history of the United States died of old age. Who was Samuel Little and how many victims did he cause
The difference between federal and state executions
Under the United States justice system, crimes can be tried in federal courts at the national level or in state courts at the regional level. Certain crimes, such as forgery or theft of correspondence, are automatically prosecuted at the federal level, as are cases in which the constitution is violated.
The death penalty was outlawed at the state and federal level by a 1972 Supreme Court decision, which overturned all existing death penalty decisions.
But a 1976 Supreme Court ruling allowed states to reinstate the death penalty, and in 1988 the government passed a law that could be passed again at the federal level.
According to official data, 78 people were sentenced to death in federal cases between 1988 and 2018, but only three sentences were applied.
Publisher: DC
