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The Supreme Court sided with the Tump administration on Tuesday night in ruling that Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on federal death row, should be executed.
Why is this important: Montgomery, 52, is set to become the first federal inmate to be put to death in 67 years.
To note: A federal judge on Tuesday granted Montgomery a stay of execution hours before she died by lethal injection at a federal prison complex in Indiana.
- Montgomery’s lawyers had argued that the Eighth Amendment prohibits the execution of people like Montgomery who, “because of their severe mental illness or brain damage, do not understand the basis for their executions.”
Details: The Supreme Court voted 6-3 in favor of the decision. The three Liberal judges were dissenting.
The big picture: Federal executions had been blocked for 16 years, until the Trump administration resumed the federal death penalty last July, notes Oriana Gonzalez of Axios.
- Montgomery was one of three inmates the Justice Department was scheduled to execute this week, a week before President-elect Biden’s inauguration, who is against the federal death penalty.
Context: Montgomery was convicted in 2004 of the murder of Bobbie Jo Stinnett, 23, eight months pregnant, cutting her baby out of the stomach and abducting the child, who survived the attack.
Go further: Trump’s final word on executions
Editor’s Note: This is breaking news. Please come back for updates.
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