On Tuesday, the Supreme Court cleared the way for the resumption of executions of federal prison inmates, eliminating a hold set earlier in the day by a trial judge. But it was not clear when the first execution would take place.
The judges voted to allow the first executions at the federal level since 2003 to take place at federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Daniel Lewis Lee was scheduled to receive a lethal dose of the powerful pentobarbital sedative at 4 p.m. EDT on Monday. But a court order preventing Lee’s execution, issued Monday morning by US District Judge Tanya Chutkan, remained in effect.
The last row of death of the last words
Daniel Lewis Lee awaits his murder appearance hearing at the Pope County Detention Center in Russellville, Ark, on October 31, 1997. (Dan Pierce / The Courier via AP, File)
A federal appeals court in Washington rejected the Trump administration’s request to intervene, before the Supreme Court acted. Still, Lee’s attorneys said the execution could not continue after midnight under federal regulations.
Two more executions are scheduled this week, Wesley Ira Purkey on Wednesday and Dustin Lee Honken on Friday.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
A fourth man, Keith Dwayne Nelson, is scheduled to be executed in August.
