December 23, 2020 10:58:35 am
Following a death row inmate testing positive for COVID-19, several US senators Tuesday sent a letter to the Department of Justice’s Inspector General requesting that he open an investigation into why the Trump administration resumed federal executions after a 17-year hiatus. The US federal government has executed 10 people since July, and three more are scheduled for execution before President-elect Biden’s inauguration.
The letter, signed by eight US senators, warns that the “spree of executions marks a break with modern-history and decades-old practice,” noting that the federal government had only executed three people in the 50 years prior to 2003. The letter also notes that the executions are the first to occur during a presidential ‘lame duck’ period in over 100 years.