US Appeals Court Gives Green Light For First Federal Execution In 17 Years - Order

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th July, 2020) A US appeals court has overturned an earlier ruling of an Indiana judge to halt the first federal execution in 17 years, which will now be carried out on Monday, a relevant court order says.

"The plaintiffs' claim is frivolous ... they have no statutory or regulatory right to attend the execution," the Sunday order of the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Curcuit, released by Axios media, says, adding that "executions are not public proceedings" and that the Federal Death Penalty Act "makes no mention of witnesses, whether members of the victims' family or others."

Chief District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson for the Southern District of Indiana blocked the execution of US inmate Daniel Lee on Friday after some of the victims' relatives sued, claiming that the Indiana prison had failed to provide a safe environment for them to attend the execution amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Magnus ruled in favor of the victims' relatives after they argued they had a right to be present at Lee's execution and launched a legal suit against the Department of Justice to delay it until the coronavirus pandemic was over. The US Justice Department then filed an emergency appeal in response to Magnus' decision.

Lee was sentenced to death in 1999 for murdering an Arkansas couple and their eight-year-old daughter. He is now scheduled to die by lethal injection on Monday. His execution will be the first federal execution, as opposed to state, since 2003.