TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Jan 15, 2021

The federal government last night executed Corey Johnson, a drug trafficker responsible for seven murders in 1992, National Public Radio reports. His attorneys argued that Johnson had an intellectual disability and that moving forward with the execution would be "cruel and usual punishment" because of his recent COVID-19 infection. Johnson is the 12th person to be executed by the federal government since the Trump administration restarted federal executions after a 17-year hiatus. Dustin Higgins is the last person scheduled to be executed before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in. Higgins, who is scheduled to die today, also contracted COVID-19 while in prison. Biden has indicated he may seek to abolish federal executions.