A federal judge in Indiana ruled that three federal executions set for Trump's final week as president, including the first of a woman in nearly 70 years, could not go forward unless prison authorities made significant changes to coronavirus prevention measures during the process, reported The New York Times.
The preliminary injunction, from Judge Jane
Magnus-Stinson, came in a class-action lawsuit brought by two inmates at the
federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Ind., where federal executions are held.
The inmates, who are not on death row but in a separate, medium-security part of
the complex, argued, in part, that the 10 executions the Trump administration’s
prison authorities have carried out since July exposed them to a substantial
risk of contracting the virus.
The Trump administration has appealed prior attempts
to block or delay executions, and the Supreme Court has allowed each one to
proceed.
During the pandemic, executions have drawn scrutiny
for their potential to become super-spreader events. Each brings about 50 to
125 people to the Terre Haute prison complex, according to an estimate by the
Bureau of Prisons, an arm of the Justice Department. Those fighting to halt
executions have contended that the number of people involved is in the
hundreds.
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