Corona Daily 233: Executions in a Hurry

America eagerly waits for 20 January; the day Joe Biden will be sworn in. Three Americans; Lisa Montgomery, Cory Johnson and Dustin John Higgs most anxiously await the Biden inauguration, although they realise their chances of witnessing it are slim. The Trump administration has set their execution dates on 12 Jan, 14 Jan and 15 Jan respectively.

USA, Japan and India are the only three democracies that have retained capital punishment. USA executes the most. In the USA, 22 states have abolished the death penalty. Twelve other states have not executed anyone in the past ten years. Other than the states, the US federal government justice system can also impose a death penalty.

For the last 17 years, not a single federal execution had taken place. With great vigour and enthusiasm, Trump set about changing all that. In July 2019, his Attorney General announced the resumption of federal executions. This year, the virus spread is rampant in the prisons. Nationwide, more than 6000 inmates and 1700 prison staffers tested positive. But without losing focus, during the pandemic, the Trump government carried out more executions than all states combined, a first such instance in history.

As per an unwritten convention, during the transition time, the outgoing president pauses all executions. In fact, Clinton and Obama commuted some death sentences to life imprisonment. Trump broke the tradition of 125 years. Since his losing the election in November, three men have been executed, two of them last week. Trump will also have the honour of facilitating the federal execution of the first woman since 1953.

Lisa Montgomery’s life has been prolonged by the coronavirus, which by infecting her attorneys, caused the postponement of the execution date to 12 January. Dustin John Higgs, due to be executed five days before the Biden inauguration is now corona positive himself. He doesn’t even know the method of his execution.

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A three-drug cocktail delivered through a lethal injection was commonly used in the past. Barbiturate acted as a sedative and painkiller, vecuronium bromide was the neuromuscular drug and potassium chloride was added to stop the heart. The problem with lethal drugs is that no human trials can be conducted. In 2014, Oklahoma officials gave Clayton Lockett an untested cocktail of drugs that tortured him for 43 minutes.

Trump’s Attorney General announced federal executions will now use pentobarbital. This is not without problems either. Lundbeck, the European manufacturer, has not sold the drug to the US since 2011. Last year, Texas inmates injected with locally made pentobarbital writhed on the floor, screamed in pain and felt themselves burning. America can detonate atom bombs and kill 200,000 people, but it struggles to execute individuals on the death row.

Undeterred, the Justice Department last month issued new regulations that allow more methods for federal executions including electrocution and the firing squad. In case suitable killer drugs are not available, the planned January executions may happen through any of the other methods.

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Under Operation Warp Speed, correction officers are included in the first round of vaccine distribution along with health care workers. (I wonder if death row inmates are given vaccines).

Prisons continue to test death row inmates and are isolating those who test positive. Dustin John Higgs is now isolated. The priest who talks to him regularly said Higgs won’t be able to meet his relatives during the final weeks of his life.

Joe Biden has declared he is opposed to the death sentence. If the lawyers of the three inmates manage to delay the executions beyond 20 January, the three may live a long life. To prevent that, Trump will try to be precisely punctual and efficient.

Ravi