US federal executions halted over ‘potentially unlawful’ method – By BBC Staff (BBC) / Nov 21 2019
Federal executions in the US have been halted over concerns that the method of carrying them out may be unlawful.
Five men were due to be executed in Indiana in December and January, after the federal government earlier this year moved to resume executions.
But a judge ruled that four inmates’ legal challenges to the method of execution were likely to succeed.
The execution of the fifth man was already halted in a separate court ruling last month.
On Wednesday, District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan said the four men would be “irreparably harmed” if they were to be put to death without being given the opportunity to have a court hear their case.
Their argument revolves around the lethal injection that would be used.
Attorney General William Barr’s announcement earlier this year lifted an informal moratorium on federal executions – as opposed to state-directed executions – that had been in place since 2003.
Continue to article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50499770
