Lisa Montgomery - Tumblr Posts
On January 13th, Lisa Montgomery was executed. The Supreme Court denied a competency hearing to prove her severe mental illness, which would have made her ineligible for the death penalty.
On January 14th, Corey Johnson was executed. The Supreme Court denied claims by Johnson's legal team of an intellectual disability and his Covid-19 diagnosis, arguing that his infection paired with a lethal injection would amount to a cruel and unusual punishment.
On January 15th, Dustin Higgs' execution went forward despite his attorney's appeal to delay the proceeding because of his Covid-19 diagnosis. His attorney also argued that Higgs was unfairly sentenced, since the actual gunman is only serving a life sentence.
The reality is that no federal government should be able to push up dates of execution so close together, ignore paperwork proving their execution to be illegal, and then carry out that execution regardless. Not to mention the injustices potentially carried out in the first place when a death sentence is convicted. As much as we focus on the individual lives of each execution, it is much more imperative to focus on the larger issue. capital punishment needs to abolished completely, for everyone on Death Row.
There will always be criminals so gruesome the public believes that 'yes, that bastard deserves death'. The issue with this is the argument on capital punishment has completely shifted to the wrong-doer, as if they are the deciders of why we have death row. In debating on the death penalty the question should never be do they deserve to die, but rather do we deserve to kill them. To put life or death in someone else's hands and decide based on that individual's character whether someone is deserving of life is immoral in itself. No one should ever be given that opportunity.
These executions won't be stopped unless there is something done. Joe Biden has pledged to abolish the death penalty and I encourage everyone to hold him to this. There is only one way to truly change the nation, and that is together.