In this file handout mugshot obtained courtesy of the Spokane Police Department on December 6, 2019, shows an undated booking photo of Danny Lee in Spokane, Washington. - A US judge ordered a delay on July 13, 2020 of the first federal execution in the United States in 17 years, which is scheduled to be carried out later in the day.
She said the inmates were likely to succeed in their claim that the new one-drug protocol using pentobarbital, a powerful barbiturate, breached a constitutional ban on “cruel and unusual” punishments. The justice department told the court it would appeal against the injunction, saying in a court filing that its extensive planning for the July and August dates, including training drills for the 40-strong execution team and the booking of transportation and hotel rooms, “cannot easily be undone”.
“The government has been trying to plough forward with these executions despite many unanswered questions about the legality of its new execution protocol,” Shawn Nolan, one of the public defenders representing the death row inmates in their lawsuits, said in a statement welcoming the judge's injunction.