"Do We Deserve to Kill?"
After a 17-year hiatus, in the summer of 2020, Attorney General William Barr announced that the U.S. government would resume federal executions. Two people, Brandon Bernard and Alfred Bourgeois, were executed the week of December 7, 2020 as a result of this federal action. Three more people face execution before President-Elect Biden assumes office in January 2021. In a nation conflicted by issues of racial justice, freedom, and the protection of civil liberties, several questions have emerged: What is the threshold for the death penalty? Is it the commission of a crime? Simply being present at the scene of a crime? Hiding evidence? Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative says, “I think the threshold question is, ‘Do we deserve to kill?'”
Three executions remain.
Advocates against the death penalty believe that victims' families deserve justice. However, they also believe that perpetrators deserve the opportunity to life and rehabilitation. Two people currently facing execution have documented disabilities and one, according to witnesses and the co-defendant, did not commit the murders of which he is accused. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Atkins v. Virginia that executing people with mental or intellectual disabilities violates the U.S. Constitution’s Eighth Amendment’s stipulation regarding “cruel and unusual punishment.”
Lisa Montgomery is the first woman in the United States to potentially face federal execution since 1953. Severely abused from early childhood into her young adult years, her lawyers and sister have argued that her resulting brain damage and medically confirmed mental illnesses should vacate the death sentence. She is guilty of killing a young, pregnant woman to kidnap her baby. The baby was safely recovered by authorities. Without an intervention, Lisa will be executed by the U.S. government on January 12, 2021.
Cory Johnson suffered from violent childhood abuse and was abandoned at a facility for children with disabilities. Despite clear evidence of his disabilities, lawyers have never been able to present the information in court. He was convicted of killing seven people connected to the narcotics trade in Richmond, Virginia. Without an intervention, Cory will be killed by the U.S. government on January 14, 2021.
Dustin John Higgs was convicted of murdering three women in the Washington, D.C. area, but there is evidence that Dustin did not commit the murders. His co-defendant, Willis Haynes, was the murderer and prosecutors argued that Dustin instructed Willis to kill the women. Willis disagreed with the prosecutor’s depiction of events, saying: "Dustin didn’t make me do anything that night or ever.” Without an intervention, Dustin will be killed by the U.S. government on January 15, 2021.
Follow the Equal Justice Initiative. The nonprofit advocates for people on death row, providing legal assistance at trial, on appeal, and in post-conviction proceedings. They study racial bias in the criminal justice system and challenge bias at every stage from jury selection to sentencing.
Share your opinion with U.S. officials. Even if the person facing execution is not from your state, you can advocate for them by encouraging your representatives to publicly support stays of execution. Find your U.S. senators here and your U.S. representatives here. You can also contact your state legislatures and governors.