Mental illness could halt female inmate’s execution

TERRE HAUTE, IND. » A federal judge on Tuesday halted this week’s executions of two inmates who were diagnosed with COVID-19, the last two federal executions scheduled under President Donald Trump.

The ruling applies to Corey Johnson, who was set for execution on Thursday, and Dustin Higgs, who was scheduled to die on Friday.

The ruling doesn’t apply to U. S. government’s planned execution Tuesday of Lisa Montgomery, who would be the first female federal inmate executed in nearly seven decades. However, Montgomery’s execution also was delayed— at least temporarily— with a federal judge’s ruling that she should receive a competency examination before being put to death.