Federal Executions in the Time of COVID-19

In July 2020, federal executions were resumed for the first time in 17 years in the middle of a deadly pandemic. From the start, the ACLU has been vocal about the risk that these federal executions would pose to everyone involved. Executions require the congregation of hundreds of people — prison staff, reporters, spiritual advisors, family members, and witnesses. Many of these people travel from around the country to Terre Haute, Indiana. They stay at local hotels, eat at local restaurants, spend time in the prison, and then return home.

On July 2, 2020, the ACLU filed Hartkemeyer v. Barr on behalf of Reverend Seigen Hartkemeyer, a spiritual advisor who had ministered to Wesley Purkey, executed by the federal government on July 14, 2020, for more than a decade. Reverend Hartkemeyer was forced to choose between his health and performing his spiritual duties to Mr. Purkey in his final moments. The ACLU’s suit — which was denied by the courts — focused on Reverend Hartkemeyer’s protections under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Five months later, we have seen the predictions made in that case come to life. Yusuf Ahmed Nur acted as the spiritual advisor to Orlando Hall, who was executed on Nov. 19. A few days later, Mr. Nur tested positive for COVID-19. In response to a new lawsuit brought on behalf of prisoners at the Terre Haute prison, the BOP has now disclosed that eight members of the execution team from Mr. Hall’s case tested positive for COVID-19 after the execution. It also admitted that two of the executioners in the execution chamber with Mr. Nur removed their masks while in the execution chamber with Mr. Nur and Mr. Hall.

Documents we received from discovery in Hartkemeyer v. Barr, and by suing the government after a FOIA request went unanswered, have shown how completely negligent the government has been in its approach to contact tracing, testing, and other important measures to slow the spread of COVID-19. The result has been major spikes of infection in Terre Haute Federal Correctional Complex, as well as in Vigo County, where the prison is located.

As of December 14, 2020, the federal government still plans to execute at least three more people before Inauguration Day. That’s despite an executive order to curtail movement in the state of Indiana, and the fact that an outgoing president has not executed anyone since 1889. The rush to execute people during a pandemic is reckless, dangerous, and depraved. It must not happen.

LITIGATION

• Hartkemeyer v. Barr
• ACLU v. Barr, FOIA Lawsuit
  • 12-7 Production (documents showing BOP spent more than 3.5 million dollars to transfer BOP to federal executions)
  • 11-13 Production Pt 2
  • 11-13 Production Pt 1
  • 10-16 Production
• Smith v. Barr (not an ACLU case, but builds off Hartkemeyer and addresses COVID and federal executions)
  • Motion for Preliminary Injunction
  • Declaration: Yusuf Ahmed Nur (spiritual advisor for Orlando Hall who contracted COVID-19 after attending the executions)
  • Declaration: Joe Goldenson (medical expert describing risk of superspreader executions)
  • Declaration: Rick Winter (BOP attorney admitting eight members of execution team tested positive for COVID-19 following the Orlando Hall execution)
    
  • Second motion for Preliminary Injunction + Supporting Memorandum

OPEN LETTERS

• An open letter from Sister Helen Prejean and Denny LeBoeuf to Assistant U.S. Attorneys
• Former Indiana Corrections Officers Petition Acting Attorney General Rosen to Halt Federal Executions Until After COVID-19
• Letter from the American Medical Association to Acting Attorney General Rosen
• Letter from the American Bar Association to Acting Attorney General Rosen

BLOGS

• We’ve Had Enough Death in 2020. Why Add More? Yusuf Ahmed Nur, spiritual advisor for Orlando Hall, December 7, 2020
• Not Even a Global Pandemic Could Stop the Federal Government from Pursuing a String of Back-to-Back Executions This Summer, Cassandra Stubbs, director of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project, August 26, 2020
• The Federal Government’s Decision to Proceed with Executions During the Pandemic Puts Me in an Impossible Position, Reverend Siegen Hartkemeyer, spiritual advisor for Wesley Purkey, July 2, 2020
  

PRESS

• Spree of federal executions during Trump’s lame-duck period and pandemic is unprecedented, NBC, December 9, 2020
• Ahead of Brandon Bernard’s Execution, Federal Government Reveals 8 Executioners Caught COVID After Last One, Newsweek, December 9, 2020
• How Trump’s Rush to Execute Inmates Is Spreading COVID, Mother Jones, December 8, 2020
• This Is How Trump’s Executions Are Spreading The Coronavirus, HuffPost, December 7, 2020
• Trump’s Cruel And Unusual Parting Gift: A Spree Of Federal Executions, HuffPost, December 4, 2020
• William Barr’s Lame-Duck Execution Spree Is Unprecedented, Slate
• Death row inmate’s lawyers suffering from coronavirus, seek delay in execution, Washington Post, November 13, 2020
• Federal Executions During Covid-19 Put Innocent Lives at Risk, WIRED, September 24, 2020