DOJ Schedules Executions for 3 Death-Row Inmates

The seal of the United States Department of Justice is seen on the building exterior of the United States Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York in Manhattan on Aug. 17, 2020. Andrew Kelly/Reuters

Attorney General William Barr on Nov. 20 directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to schedule the executions of three federal death-row inmates, convicted for what the Department of Justice described as “staggeringly brutal murders.”

All three inmates—Alfred Bourgeois, Cory Johnson, and Dustin John Higgs—were sentenced years ago for a series of deadly crimes, with convictions and sentences for one affirmed on appeal dating back more than 24 years, but various legal impediments prevented authorities from proceeding with their executions until now, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a release.